that sinking feeling
For some time now, Phil my uncle has felt that something was wrong with his boat and under performing. He'd also noticed that there was always water, albeit a small amount in the bilge sump. Despite numerous lift outs and checks by the local Engineer nothing was really found to support his gut instinct.....until we arrived and jumped aboard. Our combined weight - it must be those gorgeous 'Pastel de Nata's that we eat most days, was sufficient to reveal that the buoyancy chamber was full of water.....we estimate about 300 litres (300kg's or 4 average size adults).
Looking closer it was apparent that there was a problem with the skin fitting (aka Seacock...I don't believe it!) and water was pissing in when the boat had some weight in it or at sea. To make matters worse a previous owner had obviously installed and subsequently removed equipment so the water was finding its way through screw holes and filling up the buoyancy chamber.
A quick lift followed to take a closer look. As Phil started to remove the hose to the skin fitting it
literally split in half and came away in his hand. You don't want to think about this happening at sea because without a doubt the boat would have sunk and Phil would have been left swimming!
broken skin fitting
on the waterline
Having sourced a replacement skin fitting, we replaced it and epoxied the numerous holes to seal off the buoyancy chamber completely and whilst we had easy access we also replaced the fuel filter which was looking rather sorry for itself.
ice cream break
The moment of truth......back at the crane, the boat was launched and it was lovely to see the boat riding much higher than she has for a long time and watertight! Think it's time for a quick spin now ;-)
back at the crane - again!
Looking closer it was apparent that there was a problem with the skin fitting (aka Seacock...I don't believe it!) and water was pissing in when the boat had some weight in it or at sea. To make matters worse a previous owner had obviously installed and subsequently removed equipment so the water was finding its way through screw holes and filling up the buoyancy chamber.
A quick lift followed to take a closer look. As Phil started to remove the hose to the skin fitting it
literally split in half and came away in his hand. You don't want to think about this happening at sea because without a doubt the boat would have sunk and Phil would have been left swimming!
broken skin fitting
on the waterline
Having sourced a replacement skin fitting, we replaced it and epoxied the numerous holes to seal off the buoyancy chamber completely and whilst we had easy access we also replaced the fuel filter which was looking rather sorry for itself.
ice cream break
The moment of truth......back at the crane, the boat was launched and it was lovely to see the boat riding much higher than she has for a long time and watertight! Think it's time for a quick spin now ;-)
back at the crane - again!
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