Florida boatyards in July

[Rick Sylvester]

are hot.

Who knew?

Just came back from two weeks hard labor overhauling below-waterline plumbing on Anthem. Ugh.

Anyway, I'll be posting my experiences a bit for those who care (not many, I know.)

If MaineSail's article on through-hulls doesn't scare the crap out of you, it should. Here's a picture of how many threads stood between floating and sinking. Yeah, the one-and-half mismatched and shiny threads were all that was holding the valve onto this damn mushroom. I about pissed my pants.

I'm posting here (rather than the Hunter-only place) because I'm pretty sure many manufacturers did (and do) this.

GOD I love air-conditioning.

 

[Ross]

And that fitting held for 25 years?

 

[Rick Sylvester]

10, actually.

It was one of many bad things I discovered. I already knew of quite a few.

This particular piece was put in by a local company (no longer in business) we had install two air-conditioning units when we first bought Anthem.

Otherwise though, yeah, that was pretty much my sentiment.

Some other original through hulls that were 25 years old were equally bad. Not one wood backing plate had the slightest bit of any coating and all had completely delaminated.

 

[Ed Schenck]

That second picture probably set you back a few bucks. Definitely the right thing to do. You will sleep better even though you don't remember that you weren't.(?)

 

[Old Skool Neil]

You will sleep better even though you don't remember that you weren't.(?)

I just completed my haulout of Kalina that included the replacement of all thru-hulls and valves. Thirty three years and the thru-hulls still looked good (replaced them anyway), the valves didn't and one of the valves had the ball stem broken. Two valves were barely hand tight. All the wood backup donuts were shot.

It's true, a good night's sleep can't be overrated.