The Last Seacock

With the last seacock installed for the cockpit drains, I thought I'd show what I did to get it ready.

I have a sheet of G10 Fiberglass board, I used a couple hole saws to cut to size. Drilled holes for the bolts but then drilled out a larger size on the bottom to epoxy the bolts into place. I had a small tube of LifeCaulk on hand and used it to seal the threads. I think I used 4200 or Sikaflex 291 before but it should still work just the same.

One difficulty was having to use a couple wrenches to tighten the fittings together. Having the pieces already together helped for alignment when installed on the boat.

Really not a lot to it. This is the same way I prepared the other seacocks I've installed with new G10 backing boards.

There's sitll a couple old seacocks on the boat. I'd like to get rid of the one in the starting battery compartment. There's also one in the head under the counter top. Right now, if I tried doing that work, It would further delay getting the boat ready so they're going to wait right now.

Galley Hose

Short post.


I did some cleaning up inside the boat this past weekend. Since I wanted to replace the flat-head screws on the side paneling, like I did in the forward salon/v-berth area, I cleared out the port quarterberth and removed some screws. While I was at it, I added some of the same insulating material. Only able to do a couple parts as I ran out of what I had on hand. At the same time, I replaced a hose that went from the fresh water tank below the quarterberth to above it. I think it's for venting and to keep from the tank from being damaged from a vacuum when being used. The hose was a bit disgusting inside and it was sticky all around. I think something left over from when the boat was infested with bees.

close up of old hose

old hose in the trash

New hose in place along with some insulating material

Lastly, I got a small tube of Sikaflex 291 that was used to bed down the seacock. Once this was done, I attached a small piece of 1-1/4" ID hose. I closed the seacock, put some water in the sink until it came to the drain and waited. No loss of water, no leaks. Job well done! Still need to put the thru-hull on, but thinking to wait until I do some work on the bottom.

the other seacocks are waiting to be installed for the cockpit drains

In the meantime, I'm making plans for making an order of electrical supplies (wire, terminals) and waiting for it to warm up so I can continue on other projects. Sometimes, these small projects make a big difference in between the major projects.

Seacock Project - Complete

Today was a good day.

I found out that the carpet pieces are attached with Velcro strips. I was thinking to change them out sometime so this might be easier than I expected. This project can wait but I can still look and see what's available.

I continued the work on the water strainer. I attached the fittings to the strainer then the hoses. Since I ordered 2ft of 1/2" hose, I had to cut it down. I attached it to the pump on the engine first then ran it to the strainer for measurement.

When I attached the 3/4" hose, I filled the reservoir of the strainer with water to prime it, then got a bucket full of water and ran it through the engine. Engine started up right away and sounded quite nice.

I then cleaned up the thru-hull and flange base of the seacock. I marked off the area around the fiberglass base with tape. I used Sikaflex 291 for the base and the thru hull.

The following is pictures of the work.

 

 

 

 

Once the thru-hull and the seacock was mounted, I attached the hose with two new hose clamps. All the hose clamps I used were new. On the 3/4" hose, I used two on the seacock and the strainer input and on the 1/2" side, I used one on the strainer output and one on the raw water pump.

 

 

I'm happy this project is finally completed. I really hope everything holds together when getting the boat in the water.  This was an important project. I learned a lot about this project along the way and feels good to finally be done with it.

Project Touchups

Today was a busy day. The weather was nice and cool since some rain came through the last couple days. It's been mostly cloudy today but the sun is finally showing up in the afternoon.

I started off the day working on installing a new water strainer. I bought a Groco ARG-500 from Hopkins-Carter and it got here pretty quickly. I ordered fittings for it from another source and waiting for those to come in a couple days. Then at that time, I'll add the fittings and get some hose to go with it. I had to take off the little one that was already there. I cut the hose going to the water pump, then unscrewed the bracket behind the strainer.

Up close, you can see that someone used to be able to see through this.

Here's a size comparison between the old and new strainers.

First attempt at mounting the filter, It looked like it might interfere with part of the engine...

...so I moved it down a little in hopes it will be clear of any engine shaking/vibration.

And the mount itself.

After installing the strainer, I used a dremel to grind out the threads from the epoxy when I installed the base for the new seacock. I wanted to get the thru-hull to go through and thread only into the flange base. I didn't get any pictures of this process. Since there was a lot of dust associated with this, I used the shop-vac at the same time which really helped to keep things cleaned up.

I used the little shop-vac to do some general cleanup around the boat. I also vacuumed some loose debris in the head. I vacuumed up the storage spaces around the salon/seating area. I decided to show just how much storage space there is in the Nor'sea. The white card I placed is the size of a credit card, so you can get an idea of the space available. The same space is available on both sides.

When I cleaned up to the forward storage locker, I took the sails out and decided to take the rope and chain out of it too. I only measured the chain and I planed on measuring the rope too but didn't do it just yet.

I lowered the anchor to the ground so I could stretch it out for measurement. It turns out that there is 140' of chain in this pile.

I went to a hardware store and bought some bright orange and yellow spray paint. While there are marks on the chain, I wanted to put new ones on that were a little brighter. I put the orange marks at 25', 75', 125' and yellow marks at 50' 100'

I installed the chain back on the boat once the paint dried. I didn't see any attachment points for the chain or rope and looking at installing something to keep the anchor from getting away from me.

When I look around online and see forum posts where people are looking for a boat with a lot of space because of their height, I think that you can't have everything. I'm 6'5" and I can not stand up straight while down below but I can still fit comfortably when I'm laying in a quarterberth or when the salon is converted to sleeping space. I don't feel at all cramped in my boat. I've now been in every part of my boat and don't really have any problem reaching into any part of it. Now to show that I've been IN every part of my boat, here I am sitting in the sail/anchor locker. :-)

Raw Water Seacock, Installed!

Instead of going through several posts for each step along the way, I decided to make a post for the project as a whole. After seeing a loose thru-hull, I went ahead and worked on getting it replaced. Certainly don't want to sink the boat as soon as it gets in the water.