Fish in the raw water intake

[Dr. D]

Yesterday I was finally able to take the boat out for the first time this year, just to knock off the rust of my motoring skills. After about 10 minutes the engine overheating alarm comes on. I limped the boat back into the slip. (Nuts.)

After two hours which included replacing the impeller, I found the problem. A small eel, or similar fish, was sucked up into the raw water intake on the sail drive. I removed the 2" of fish in the pipe shown below. Opening the seacock no water flowed in. I reattached the hose, disconnected the end at the strainer and blew into the hose. I could hear air bubbling around the hull, so I could get air out though the intake. But, hooking everything up showed no water flowing. It appears the rest of fish just gets sucked back into the intake when motor starts spinning the impeller.

OK, any good ideas on how to remove the fish remains?

 

[jssailem]

You might try to repeat the “blow out”. You may want to try attaching a pump to push water in reverse flow through the system to see if you can send the ell back where it should be.

A final idea would be to dive under the boat with his buddies and try a small blade to router router the fish guts out of the lower part of the system.

Good luck.

 

[jon hansen]

three times it has happened to me. i disconected the intake hose at the pump. used my dingy foot pump and blew the line in reverse. water flowed in nicely afterwards. it just worked for me. small freshwater perch each time.
good luck

 

[kloudie1]

First, ya make a little roux....

 

[jon hansen]

now that was funny! LOL

 

[Hello Below]

Get a garden hose connector with a female end on one and a barb end on the other that will fit into the hose that goes to your saildrive.

Put 1 or 2 hose clamps on and connect your dock hose to the garden hose connector and turn on the shore water full bore for a few minutes. Sixty+ psi will clear out pretty much anything include any crustaceans that may be there. With the water still on full, I will open and close the saildrive thru hull a few times just to give it that little extra blast.

 

[Dr. D]

Thanks to all. I got the dock fresh water hose and a hose adapter to get everything out. Took a couple of hours. The downside is a connector in the exhuast system melted, so that must be replaced before any sailing.

Good to hear I'm not the only one that has this experience!

 

[Bluenose]

What about the big one that got away??

 

[jssailem]

Good to hear I'm not the only one that has this experience!

Yes sometimes misery loves company..
Good you resolved the issue. Now no more fishing with out a license...
Fair Winds.

 

[Dr. D]

three times it has happened to me. i disconected the intake hose at the pump. used my dingy foot pump and blew the line in reverse. water flowed in nicely afterwards. it just worked for me. small freshwater perch each time.
good luck

How do you connect the hose from the dingy foot pump to the intake hose?

I think using the dock fresh water is easiest, but that means the boat must be at the dock. Having a means to clear the line while out on the water would be good.

 

[jon hansen]

dr. d, the hose tip to my inflatable raft, by chance, fits snugly into the fresh water intake hose where i disconnect it at the strainer. it is a foot pump. it is a snug fit such that by just holding it together with my hands, we can jump hard on the pump for full force. just lucky i guess.

 

[jssailem]

My raft pump is like a bicycle pump only bigger. It has a conical fitting that I stuff into the hose I take off the engine strainer. Holding the hose above the waterline and opening the valve puts a slug of water in the hose. It does not come out the hose if you hold the end above the waterline on the boat. Then you pump till you see bubbles beside the boat.

Could also work with a battery powered air or water pump. Just hold boat hose above the water line.

 

[jviss]

Best technique ever: disconnect the hose to the strainer, jam the hose going to the seacock into your air horn, and key the air horn. (Do this with the seacock open, of course, and be prepared to close it after blowing it clear.)

Learned that one on here, works like magic.

 

[Dr. D]

OK, now my raw water intake is clear. But I am paranoid about the same thing happening. Removing the hose from the strainer each time would be a pain (I must assume the pretzel position to get to it). However, from the rear of the motor enclosure I have easy access to the top of the strainer. What if when I am going to go for a sail, I remove the top of the strainer, put a hose with some sort of collar into the opening in the bottom of the strainer, and use a pump to force air out of the sail drive to clear anything hanging around?

That should not cause any damage. Once the engine has started I would hope the vibrations from the sail drive would discourage any critters coming close to it.

 

[Dr. D]

Just to complete the story: Below is a picture of the waterlock muffler after being replaced. I could see the connector had melted, but I didn't see the damage to the side of the muffler until it was removed. I guess if any part of the muffler is melted, the whole thing needs to be replaced.