Boat Babble

I have been a flip-flopper. But it’s not my fault. For months I have been trying to gather the knowledge required to replace seacocks and add backing plates. Oddly enough the biggest difficulty has been too much information and too many different ways of doing things. As things stand now, the plan has come full circle. I will make backing plates from a fiberglass board. The general procedure for creating the board is described in detail here. Continue reading →

Rerouting hoses around the galley sink is a prerequisite for the larger project of replacing Failed Seacocks.

The seacock in worst condition is beneath the galley sink and serves as the sink discharge. It is also the most problematic in terms of access. In addition to being tucked away in a corner of the cabinet, there are five hoses that either touch or run within a couple inches of the fixture. None of the other seacocks has nearly this much corrosion and they also don’t have hoses touching them. My guess is that this is not galvanic corrosion but rather the result of constant contact with moisture condensing or sweating through the hoses. The effects are far worse on the steel valve handle. In addition to causing rust and making access difficult, the hoses leave no room for a backing plate to go with the new seacock. The backing plate will be a donut-like disc about 6″ in diameter and 3/4″ thick. It will be epoxyed to the hull so that the thru-hull passes through its center and the flange from the new seacock bolts onto it. The goal is to reroute hoses so that there is at least 3″ of clearance surrounding the seacock. Continue reading →