Plumbing the Depths...

I really need to get a scrub brush into the bilge sometime. Or a pressure washer to get into all the crevices.  I have cleaned a time or two down in the bilge but it never really gets completely 'clean'.  I was thinking about that today as I was getting the plumbing hooked up.

Two foot pumps in position.




And just to see how close they are to the steps here is a picture looking straight down on the pump levers.

Yeah. Not perfectly aligned.  Oh well.  Maybe I set them slightly off  center to compensate for the different standing angles that are created by the user using opposite feet for each pump. Or maybe I just goofed a bit.




My last order of plumbing supplies was delayed so I couldn't move forward on the freshwater system.  I was able to bring the saltwater galley supply closer to be finished.  Funnily enough, I ordered the hoses I thought I needed only to find out later that I already had the hoses in stock for the past two years or so.  Now I have plenty of hose.

So, I repositioned the strainer last week and this week I installed new hoses to replace all the hose that I disturbed.  I also added in the 'T' fitting  to provide salt water to the foot pump on the port side.  I fought with the half inch hose for about 20 minutes, first trying to stretch it to fit the barbed fitting, then heating it (with the utility light used to light up the cabin) and finally by making a quick run to the hardware store for some silicone spray.  After all this I realized that in the catalog the hose fitting was described as fitting 1/2 inch or 5/8 inch hose. I figured they meant that it is a little tight for 1/2 inch and a little loose for 5/8.  As it happens, the fitting is actually stepped so that the 1/2 inch hose connects on the outer end and a 5/8 inch hose slides up further on the fitting to the bigger section. That was a 'duh' kind of moment. 

I am not terribly happy with this fitting because I have been attempting to follow the practice of putting two hose clamps on every hose connection below the waterline.  In this particular case, there isn't enough room on the fitting for two clamps.  I am not terribly worried. Those AWAB clamps are great and none of them have shown any signs of getting old or failing.  As a matter of fact, the hose seems to weld itself to the fitting long before I notice any corrosion on the clamps so even without clamps I don't think the hose would leak.  It still isn't how I wanted to do it however.

Turns out I was tricked and a lot of the hose clamps I have on the shelf are not the superior AWAB brand but common and questionable hose clamps from ... somewhere else so I didn't finalize all the connections.  I did run the lines to the saltwater foot pump though.

It would have been nice of the Whale brand pumps to label the inlet and outlets of their pumps.  I will have to bring some water next week so I can do a test pump and figure out which is which.

I will probably curse myself later for positioning the starboard freshwater pump so close to the aft edge of the storage locker.

The hose fittings reach into the bulkhead and I will have to attach the hoses and then slide the pump into position afterwards.  That is why I had to make the holes in an oval shape.

I spent some time researching filtration systems for the freshwater supply.  I was looking at a few boat/rv systems but I wasn't happy about how they hooked into the system.  They all had special faucets and used a clamp fitting that clamped around the supply and  cut into the supply hose to get to the supply.  It got complicated figuring out the hardware I would need to set it up simply, plus they were rather pricey at around $100-$150 so in the end I went to Home Despot and picked up a GE brand filter with fittings for about $35. Buying from Home Despot also means getting replacement filters should be as easy as visiting my local hardware store rather than having to order from marine specialty houses. 

Oh. I almost forgot.  I found this bronze cowl on sale by a former Triton owner. I am going to install the cowl on the aft deck port side to ventilate under the cockpit.  It won't match my low profile cowl on the starboard side but any cowl is better than no cowl and I will keep looking. The cowl is well used but in decent condition.

I think I am going to position the filter under the sink right about...

...there but I am not 100% sure yet.

It is about time I cut an access door in the front panel to gain access under the sink. 

I just need my latest plumbing supply order to come in plus another box or two of AWAB clamps to get salt and freshwater to the sink. 

As long as I don't eat too much at Thanksgiving this week I just might have a working water supply next weekend.  No more leaning over the side of the boat to wash my dishes. 

That will be nice...

Pump it up

Last weekend was a bust but this weekend I managed to get to the boatyard for a few hours.

Firstly, I spent some time cleaning up leaves that had accumulated on deck over the past month or so.  The last time I was working on the boat was all about getting her covered before the hurricane.  I didn't take the time to clean her first.  I fixed that.

Then on to more interesting thing; like water pumps for the galley.

The tools of the week that I forgot to bring were some nice sharp wood chisels.  I had a rough chisel that I don't care about for bashing old fiberglass and whatever and that is all I had to make the slots for the pump arm.  I used the dull chisel long enough to make sure the pump was going to work .  The second pump will be mounted opposite the one here.  I started making the slot but didn't finish it.

This is ugly I know, I didn't clean the locker before I started and it had some old... stuff... that needs to be cleaned and probably over painted.  This is looking down through the settee locker lid.  There is just enough room at the aft end (top of photo) to connect the supply and output hoses through the bulkhead/panel that separates the under areas between the galley and settee.

The sink drain was easy.  I had a seacock underneath the sink area that I used for the engine raw water intake for my first sailing season.  I picked up a lot of crud from that location (had to clean out the strainer every few hours) so I moved the engine raw water intake lower down and on the other side of the keel.  This left an unused seacock right under the sink so I put it to good use.  I just needed to change the tail fitting from an angled one to a straight one.  Yeah, that little hole has accumulated a lot of grinding dust and gunk.  Add it to my cleaning list...

I decided to try taking my raw water for the galley off of the engine raw water supply.  Other people I know have done this with no regrets and it looked to be the easiest solution.   I don't expect to need raw water in the galley any time I am running the engine so I think I am okay. If not I will make my 'service' area even more cluttered with another seacock later.

Here is how the area looked before I started.  Yes. Messy.  Anyone noticing a trend here?...

There is the engine raw water strainer on the left (red antifreeze liquid inside the clear strainer). The engine fuel filter is on the forward edge (bottom of photo) with the electric fuel pump right next to it.  Coolant overflow tank is on the right side of the photo.  The hoses... never mind.. it is getting crowded there...

So my first idea was to move the raw water strainer to the forward end of the area opening up that whole side (left on the photo).

Nope.  Clearly that wasn't going to work.  The strainer takes more space than I thought.

Instead I shifted the strainer forward leaving room for the 'T' fitting that splits the supply between the engine raw water pump and the raw water galley pump.  Those hoses in the photo are just to help line things up.  The original hoses were frozen on so I cut them off.  New hose is always a good idea anyway.  They are cheap enough.  The input hose to the strainer was too short and will be replaced too.

Because I had to change plans on the raw water system I didn't have enough fittings to complete the fresh water supply.  Truthfully, I had a bone head moment and ordered a normal 'T' fitting to combine the two fresh water tanks rather than a proper valve so I can select between the two.  I ordered the valve and the extra fittings I need to finish the project.  The hoses are standing by waiting for final cutting and fitting into position.

I didn't bring the right sized drill for the galley faucets so I didn't install them either.  Just basic telescoping faucets for now.

Believe it or not I also did some general clean up inside and that is where I left off for today.  Hopefully, a working water system next weekend.  Oh... maybe not.... I just remembered that I want to put a filtration system into the freshwater side and I haven't even looked into that yet.  Those nice new custom made water tanks have been sitting in the boat for ... maybe four years now(!?) and I am sure a lot of dust has managed to get inside them.  I can use the access panels to clean them but I am willing to bet there will be a lot of gunk to filter out for the first few tank fills.  I want the filtration system for that and for those dodgy water supplies one occasionally stumbles across while out cruising.

And that is it.  I have a lot of loose ends on the galley at the moment and hopefully I will be tightening it all up soon.

Spring cruising season is coming soon. Realistically what?.. ten weekends maybe?  What with holidays, bad weather, family plans, taking half the winter away from production.? I should hire myself a whip cracker...