I gave myself heartburn!
Posted: Mon Aug 01, 2016 8:59 am
Normally in my life I do not let things get to me.
Not this time!
Just over a week ago I discovered one of our underwater emergency through hull valves is broken!!! Oh crap! For those who do not know, Destiny is our pride and joy! She is a 40' Beneteau Oceanis that we spend a lot of time on.
Thoughts of immediate haul out, Destiny sinking, and other nasty things are running through my head! YIKES! Wait a minute, slow down, I don't even know how long it has been broken. No obvious water ingress and the valve case looks completely intact. I simply can not operate the valve. The hand screw has broken off inside. and the valve is stuck closed!
Whew! A little time to regroup my thoughts. That evening I sent an email to a group of local sailors. My thoughts are to put a cork in the through hull from the outside underwater, unscrew the valve from the inside, expect SOME water ingress, screw on new valve. Be done! I was asking for practical advice. Should I haul her or is my simple plan workable?
OMG the email responses I received!over a couple of days the stories I read clearly indicated I was blatantly stupid for even considering the operation in the water below the waterline! All from seasoned adult sailors. All describe things that could go wrong. YIKES
The last email advice I received and read was the deciding factor. It simply stated you have the perfect plan. Now execute it. He had done the exact same thing very successfully. I quite reading responses to me after that advice.
So, I studied the metals and noted no corrosion on on the threads, no dissimilar metals issues, nothing. Simply an aged valve. For the next week, every other day I was squirting penetrating anti seize on the valve and through hull.
Sunday morning with the plug in, I carefully twisted the valve off with pipe wrenches, used sealant and reinstalled the new valve. I sat there totally amazed at how simple the job was with a little preparation and planing.
Yes, we pulled the plug and there are no leaks.
No Poseidon did not claim Destiny Sunday morning.
Yes I felt silly for all the worrying about the job.
Yes it was completely planned out and successfully executed! LOL!
I guess the moral is to don't over think, just make a good plan, go over it and over it refining any necessary details. Then just execute it!
Ah, it feels good not thinking about this issue anymore!
Scott
Not this time!
Just over a week ago I discovered one of our underwater emergency through hull valves is broken!!! Oh crap! For those who do not know, Destiny is our pride and joy! She is a 40' Beneteau Oceanis that we spend a lot of time on.
Thoughts of immediate haul out, Destiny sinking, and other nasty things are running through my head! YIKES! Wait a minute, slow down, I don't even know how long it has been broken. No obvious water ingress and the valve case looks completely intact. I simply can not operate the valve. The hand screw has broken off inside. and the valve is stuck closed!
Whew! A little time to regroup my thoughts. That evening I sent an email to a group of local sailors. My thoughts are to put a cork in the through hull from the outside underwater, unscrew the valve from the inside, expect SOME water ingress, screw on new valve. Be done! I was asking for practical advice. Should I haul her or is my simple plan workable?
OMG the email responses I received!over a couple of days the stories I read clearly indicated I was blatantly stupid for even considering the operation in the water below the waterline! All from seasoned adult sailors. All describe things that could go wrong. YIKES
The last email advice I received and read was the deciding factor. It simply stated you have the perfect plan. Now execute it. He had done the exact same thing very successfully. I quite reading responses to me after that advice.
So, I studied the metals and noted no corrosion on on the threads, no dissimilar metals issues, nothing. Simply an aged valve. For the next week, every other day I was squirting penetrating anti seize on the valve and through hull.
Sunday morning with the plug in, I carefully twisted the valve off with pipe wrenches, used sealant and reinstalled the new valve. I sat there totally amazed at how simple the job was with a little preparation and planing.
Yes, we pulled the plug and there are no leaks.
No Poseidon did not claim Destiny Sunday morning.
Yes I felt silly for all the worrying about the job.
Yes it was completely planned out and successfully executed! LOL!
I guess the moral is to don't over think, just make a good plan, go over it and over it refining any necessary details. Then just execute it!
Ah, it feels good not thinking about this issue anymore!
Scott
