Is there a ghost on my boat?

[NautiDuck]

This is very odd. Each of the past five times we have gone to the boat there is hand soap spilled in the head. We have one of those standard plastic pump-type containers of hand soap in a teak holder. Now when we go to the boat there is a big gob of soap on the sole of the head just below the soap holder. My theory is that the recent warm water is adding pressure and "pumping" out soap. I have never seen this before. Ever happen to you??

 

[Rob19574]

I get the same thing...

Happens every time for us too Same plastic type dispenser.

 

[Ross]

Loosen the cap just a wee bit . It used to happen to us

until we took that step.

 

[Don S/V ILLusion]

if it's full, it can siphon out

nm

 

[Bill Roosa]

naughty nymphs

Clearly you have naughty nymphs aboard and should do some sort of pagan sacrifice to Poseidon. If you have a virgin handy you might get them to pee on the bow while singing a sea shanty. I'm not sure on the exact shanty that should be sung. You might ask an Amway distributor, they are into soap.

 

[MoonSailer]

Barametric Pressure sounds reasonable

Any big fronts lately??? I work in a lab and we have squirt bottles of alcohol sitting around for disinfection. When a big front of storm comes through they will start leaking out of the spout. Sometimes fairly rapidly. But that is boring!!!! You have a virgin ghost peeing in your head and when she trys to wash her hands the soap just falls to the ground....or the ghost of jack the ripper is trying to clean up after a murder!!!! or...fillin the blanks as you fancy. There is an old weather device called a "storm glass" it is basically a bottle sealed with liquid and a dip tube. When the weather is expected to be good there is rising barametric pressure and there will be little bubbles at the bottom of the dip tube. When it is dripping out of the spout a storm is coming. But the sexy ghost stories sound better.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barometer

 

[Yer boat buddy]

Im really sorry

I did not mean to leave a mess, My girlfried is compulsive about washing her hands and she must be spilling it. We have really enjoyed the boat however, but i wish you would invest in a new jib. I think it make a big difference in the performance.Thanks again ,your silent Partner.

 

[patrick]

But have you checked

your sugar lately? My sugar bowl is still missing. My sweetie claims that Splenda does indeed evaporate. Maybe that is why you loose wait with it. She claims that you loose wait by eating it. BUT I have never heard of a sugar bowl evaporating into thin air - well any air really. You might try: www.ghostbusters.net

 

[Marcia]

Naughty Nymphs with a sweet tooth?

Maybe that's were the sugar went in the earlier post??? Sticky fingers require washing!

 

[Eric Jones]

Thick, syrupy stuff siphons.

I learned the hard way with West's epoxy resin. What a mess. Ross's suggestion is the simplest solution. Break the siphon by cracking the cap.

 

[MoonSailer]

DUH cracking relieves pressure

Sorry but stuff does not siphon up hill. But Ross' suggestion will work to relieve any barometric pressure difference. That is actually what we do in the lab. But the problem with a squirt bottle with a loose cap is that itdoesn't squirt that well.

 

[Ross]

If you vent it when the air is warm and then tighten the cap

when the air cools it will contract and there will be no leak. Use it first off in the morning while the bottle and the air and soap are cool then during the day as everything warmsup and expands it will push a bit of soap out the spout. The problem is greatest when the bottle is nearly empty. Moonie, just tighten the cap when you want to use it. There are more varieties of bottle dispensers than one man could think up by himself. The simplest one is unscrew the cap, pour some into your hand, put the cap back and wash your hands.

 

[Eric Jones]

MoonSailer, you're right. Water doesn't run uphill.

I should have been somewhat more precise. The viscosity of syrupy stuff can temporarily overpower the spring in the dispenser resulting in a partial siphon from a full, or nearly full, container before the spring fully recoils. Try it. But don't watch it, it only works when you're not looking. Use epoxy resin, preferably in some place where it will make the biggest mess.And you're right, I should have mentioned that you should tighten the cap before you use it again.

 

[Bad Obsession]

If you see the Flying Dutchman

you really know that something is going on and it is probably a good idea to stay at home in the slip!I would toss the container and get something else that didn't make a mess.

 

[Ross]

Asiphon only works when the discharge end of the tube,pie,hose is lower then

surfase of the liquid in the container. With a dispenser pump some other physics are involved but it isn't a siphon.

 

[Cap'n Ron]

" Flying Cloud"

....was alson lost in a Cat 4 hurrincaine in Tongan waters, and never recovered, all hands....