How do you prepare for leaks?

[jfschena]

It seems to me several things can fail on my oday 26 that can sink the boat. I have thru hull fittings, transmitters for the knot meter and depth reader thingy, there's that rubber hose aft of the stuffing box and the stuffing box itself. I plan on installing a electric bilge pump. What other emergency equipment should I carry to stop leaks till I can get safely back to shore?

Thanks.

 

[justsomeguy]

A manual pump, too.

 

[Don S/V ILLusion]

The best prevention is proper and diligent maintenance. No amount of bilge pumps can take the place of routine maintenance; the only thing bilge pumps can do is slow down a sinking and that is not your goal...

The shaft hose should be inspected frequently and replaced periodically. The packing in the stuffing box needs replacement on a routine basis. All through hulls should be inspected often, periodically disassembled and replaced with adequate plugs nearby in case.... If you knot meter and depth sounder heads were not properly installed or you don't know, you might want to rebed them.

Bilge pumps never pump at their rated capacity and a small hole will easily overwhelm them.

 

[Scotty C-M]

I agree with Don.

In addition, there should be a wooden plug (held in place by a stainless wire) next to each through-hull. There are also soft rubber plugs - like the Forespar TruPlug - that work well. A pack of those in the safety locker is also a good idea. In that locker there should also be a couple of wax toilet seals (or the product that is sold for boats that is also wax). A couple of rolls of gorilla tape (a bit stronger than duct tape). There is also a wide butyl tape used by HVAC installers that makes a great sealing material. Throw in an assortment of stainless hose clamps and a sheet of rubber too. This is a good place to have a laminated map of the locations of the thru-hull fittings. I also carry (in addition to an electric and manuel pump) a portable manuel pump, several buckets and lots of sponges. Have your emergency tools easy to access. Nothing will stop a catastrophic failure, but lots of small leaks can be stopped - or slowed - before they lead to big trouble. A handheld VHF will work if the boat's electrical system is disabled. When in doubt, make a PAN call to alert the Coast Guard, and other responders, that there might be a problem.

 

[jfschena]

I agree with Don.

In addition, there should be a wooden plug (held in place by a stainless wire) next to each through-hull. There are also soft rubber plugs - like the Forespar TruPlug - that work well. A pack of those in the safety locker is also a good idea. In that locker there should also be a couple of wax toilet seals (or the product that is sold for boats that is also wax). A couple of rolls of gorilla tape (a bit stronger than duct tape). There is also a wide butyl tape used by HVAC installers that makes a great sealing material. Throw in an assortment of stainless hose clamps and a sheet of rubber too. This is a good place to have a laminated map of the locations of the thru-hull fittings. I also carry (in addition to an electric and manuel pump) a portable manuel pump, several buckets and lots of sponges. Have your emergency tools easy to access. Nothing will stop a catastrophic failure, but lots of small leaks can be stopped - or slowed - before they lead to big trouble. A handheld VHF will work if the boat's electrical system is disabled. When in doubt, make a PAN call to alert the Coast Guard, and other responders, that there might be a problem.

Thanks for all your responses. I'm compiling a punch list now and this will be very helpful.

 

[HarryP33]

I only have one through-hull fitting, for my depth sounder. When I put it in, I decided I wanted to have secondary containment should it decide to leak someday. I also wanted the fitting located as forward as possible, which placed it under the V-berth.

I went to the hardware store and bought a PVC toilet flange used for securing a toilet to the soil pipe in a bathroom. I glued a length of PVC pipe to it where the length exceeds the distance between the hull and waterline by as many inches as I could, so it extends up to an inch or so under the V-berth. I removed the V-berth, pulled the cabling through the assembly, and secured the assembly over/around the thru-hull by gluing the flange to the inside of the hull with 3M 5200 making a water tight seal. I left an inspection port in the V-berth (under the cushion) so I can look down the pipe and see if the fitting is leaking, and if so, water will be contained within the assembly.

I did this many years ago when I was less informed… I don’t think I’ll ever be able to remove the assembly because of the 5200, and it will make it difficult to replace the fitting if I ever have to (in other words, if I were to do it over again I would consider using a strong yet not so resilient caulk/sealer to glue the assembly to the hull, it doesn’t need to be structural). The good news is the fitting is fully functional, has never leaked, and it’s been more than a decade since I installed it.

 

[Merlin Clark]

If you want to make the boat tighter, you could fill the holes for the depth finder transducer (and mount it inside the hull) and the knot log (and use GPS which will give you speed over ground instead of speed thru the water- affected by water movement).
You mention the stuffing box, so your boat is an inboard? For any hoses, if they look at all worn or old, replace them with good quaility like Sheilds or equivilent and double (again new and good quality) hose clamp all hose fittings. This includes the swing keel or centerboard pennant tube.
Inspect all thru hulls and seacocks for corrosion and pitting. Seacocks should function and any thru hole below the waterline must be fitted with a seacock. Close all seacocks when not in use except cockpit drains if so equipped. Cycle all regularly to make sure they work.
Your bilge pump discharge thru hull should be above the waterline, this allows people to see the outflow and should alert to a potential problem and having it above means one less hole below the waterline.