Why We Service the Through-Hulls

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Every year we go through the contortions to service every one of the too many through-hull fittings on I Wanda. You want for them to move firmly but easily in case you need to close them. Some of these fittings are used fairly regularly, but others have stayed in their position between servicing most all the time.

We had noticed over the past few days that we had to empty the bilge more often than usual, so we were watching and keeping tabs on the bilge levels. One culprit we have had in the past is a leak or loose fitting on a fresh water hose. If the fresh water pump is left on you can empty a LOT of fresh water directly into the bilge. I decided to check the fresh water tank to see if it was lower than it should be. There was water ON TOP of the tank. Clean… and salty. That meant we were getting sea water into the boat, but from WHERE? To access all the hoses and through hulls you have to lift floor boards and remove some counter lockers. It didn’t take long to find a drip in a below water line pipe that is part metal and connected to regular hose by double hose clamps. On inspection we found a fairly large hole on the bottom of the metal pipe. To repair it we needed to close off the through hull to prevent all water from entering that pipe/hose installation. It was FIRM, but it moved properly and we were VERY GLAD we had serviced it regularly as A LOT of water would be able to get into the boat while trying to repair the leak AND would make that repair much more difficult.

A permanent repair will wait for our return home, but we had all the tools and material on board to do a satisfactory repair in about an hour. We will keep an eye on the repair, but so far no drips and the bilge is dry.

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Comments

[Cristina Staats]

thru-hulls
Hello there. We, on Iona, are in the process of replacing some of ours that are a bit thin now. We have decided that there are some of those little used ones that might be better off replaced. So dear JACK is contemplating the task. We will replace them all slowly, two at a time over the next few years. I applaud you keeping your thru-hulls in good nick. We have serviced ours as well, but time has taken its tole and it is now time to begin replacing.

[lora from decision]

through hulls
Good for you! Water coming into the boat, not a good thing, and often hard to diagnose. But not for the intrepid sailors aboard I Wanda! So glad the bilge is now dry. :-) You are right that the regular maintenance of many things prevents problems or at least makes the fix easier when problems arise. I'm getting a physical next week for that reason!