Yup that's right we almost sank her without even knowing! Here's what happened!

While Sam, our son, was out for Spring break we decide to take him out for a day on the water. Little did we know that we would have to deal with water down below!

The week prior Christina and I went out for a day sail and I noticed right away our speed/knots gauge at the helm was indicating 0.00. This is fed from a wheel that spins under water and is housed in a Thru-Hull fitting in the bow section of the boat. So as the boat moves in the water, the wheel spins and that transmit a signal to the gauge at the helm. NOTE: This is a Thru hull fitting meaning there is a hole cut into the bottom of the boat the this fitting sits in. Normally its all sealed up and no danger of flooding.

We had scheduled for our hull/bottom cleaning on March 31. I asked the diver to please take care of our boat first thing in the am which he did and while he was there to inspect the speed wheel. Which he did and he mentioned the speed wheel was stuck and that he cleaned it and it was spinning free now. Sam and I were there hanging out while he cleaned the bottom and fixed the speed wheel (that is inside the Thru Hull Casing)

About 30 minutes later Sam and I prepare the boat for sail and leave the slip/marina with no issues that we were aware of any way :)!!

We Head out into San Diego bay with decent 10 - 15 knot winds. I Put Sam on the helm while I managed the sails at his commands! I was very very proud of him, he captained the boat like an expert! We were having a great time on the water, cruising around 7.5knots.
After about an hour Sam heads down below for some water and yells up to me "Why is there water on the floor"!! UH OH!!
I go down and sure enough there is a little water seeping out from under the sole near the bow/vberth cabin. At first I thought our fresh water tank was leaking and tasted the water and it was salty!! UH OH again.
At this point I check the bilge and sure enough there is some water in there but not enough to even set off the auto bilge pump. I activate the bilge pump manually and empty the 3" or so of water in the bilge and watch for the water to rise. It takes a bit of time to get back up to 3". Just a note it takes about 5" to activate the auto bilge pump.
At this point I tell Sam to head back to the marina and lets get the boat to the dock. I figured it seemed like a slow enough leak coming from somewhere and that we had time to get back to the dock. We dropped the sails and fired up the engine to motor our way back to dock.
Uneventful trip back to the dock where I then open up the vbirth storage and see there is a lot of water in the forward bulkhead!! See Pics! A LOT Of water!

Sam and I are a bit confused but there are those two pesky Thru Hulls right there. I told him it has to be one of them. We manually bailed out the water and as soon as we got it low enough to expose the thru hulls we saw the water gurgling from the top of the Speed Sensor Thru Hull! There it is!!
See pics and Video.
At this point I am not sure how it all happened but I do know the Root Cause ......

Thru Hull Safety Pin was on the bottom of the boat NOT in the thru hull fitting.

There is a Safety pin in the thru hull fitting that prevents the center Core to be removed. You can remove this while the boat is in the water and quickly popping in the Plug, you can then replace the speed wheel or whatever then put it back in the Thru Hull housing.
here goes my guess.

1) When Christina and I noticed that the speed indicator gauge was not working it was probably then the wheel got stuck.
2) At some point the safety pin fell out/came out was dislodged from the thru hull housing
3) our diver while cleaning the bottom and cleaning out the speed wheel somehow without knowing actually pushed up the Thru hull internal piece enough to break the seal and water then starting gurgling into the boat!!! See video.
4) Sam and I took the boat out shortly after our diver completed his work.
5) Same notices water!!

So what did we learn??
1) Well, you should probably physically check that all safety mechanism's are in place and functional for all thru hulls that have them. At least monthly. Once I replaced the safety pin I also zip locked it in place :)

2) DON'T Panic! Sam and I both remained calm and as the saying goes....Clear heads prevail!! In our case this totally worked.

3) I will install a second high volume bilge pump. After seeing the amount of water in the forward bulkhead I do not believe that the existing bilge pump will remove it all fast enough to prevent sinking.

4) Sam is a GREAT sailor and look forward to more adventures with him at the helm!

We purchased Unwinder in January 2020. After several trips to San Diego to walk around her and get a feel for if she will meet out needs. We decided to make an offer which was accepted and just like that we were now under contract!!! What does that mean? Well that means we had 21 days to a) arrange for a Survey b) arrange for a haul out c) take out for Sea Trails (2 of them) and d) decide if we really wanted this boat. The owner while under contract cannot sell the boat to anyone else.
After a successful survey and two sea trials we were even happier with this boat and decided to move ahead with the purchase.
Buying a boat this size is the same as buying a house. Title companies, transfers, coast guard documentation etc. After 15 days we met the broker at the dock and were handed the keys to our dream!

What is she? She is a 1999 Catalina C36 Mark 2. 2 cabins, 1 head/shower, galley, large lounge area and comfortable cockpit with seating for 6.

We were excited to start sailing and everything that goes with a owning a sailboat!

Stay tuned for more updates!

Welcome to the adventure is right!!

As I am nearing my retirement from Kaiser Permanente after 29 years in Information Technology we needed to get going on our dreams!

Mine is to cruise as far as possible on a sailboat. Spend the next 2.5 years exploring the Pacific coast of California while learning how to sail, maintain, prepare for longer passages and enjoy life on the water. Both on the water and at the slip. All the while preparing for the Sea of Cortez trip in summer 2023.

Christina's is to travel the world and stay in local small towns in as many countries as we can. Renting homes for a couple of months at a time and immersing ourselves into the culture and lives of those around us.

So why not combine the dreams and create a Living goal and philosophy to go with that. To that end we will sail as much as possible and explore as much as possible and share with family and friends as much as possible. When Sailing season ends or if we need a break from the boat we will dock the boat wherever we happen to be, jump on a plane and go somewhere new for a couple months or? Then return to the boat and keep on sailing/exploring.

I will keep you all updated here as this adventure continues on.