Seacocks

Probably one of a boat's greatest vulnerabilities is thru-hulls... ie. holes in the bottom of the boat.  

A seacock is the valve attached to the thru-hull that keeps the water we're floating in from becoming water that's flowing in.

Traditionally, below the waterline thru-hulls and seacocks are made of cast Bronze.  

Like copper, bronze may develop a green patina.  The patina itself is not a problem, but I like to clean it off with baking soda paste and a brush just to expose cracks or pits.  

If there was a leak on a clean valve, like the one to the right, the green patina would show first near the problem spot.


I think the galley sink seacock has a leak from the drain hose, but it is so slight I can't see it leak... So I buffed it up and I'll watch the valve for the first signs of staining.



 Sedna's seacocks resemble Wilcox-Crittenden Seacox and the link has full installation and maintenance instructions.

I won't be taking my boat out of the water for the winter, so I did want to grease the valves in place. 

This is done by removing the little 1/8" drain plug(s) on the housing body. (The plug is to allow all water to escape the valve when winterizing your boat).

Screw a Grease Zerk into the hole and squirt grease into the hole.  I loosen the retaining nuts on the end on the valve plug and work the valve handle to move the grease around.  Then I adjust the retaining nuts, remove the grease zerk, and replace the bronze plug.  

The square head of the 1/8" plug on this valve was corroded, so I replaced it with a new one for $5.  They aren't necessarily easy to find, I had to order mine online from West Marine.  I was able to find brass plugs for a $1.20 through a plumbing supply store, but feared they would corrode too quickly.  Out of 6 seacocks on the boat, I only had to replace one drain plug and bought one as an extra.











This shows the difference in appearance between a Brass (left) and Bronze (right) plugs...

Inflatable Solar Powered LED Light

Few weeks ago I got a solar powered light at West Marine for $15.  Part of the money goes to Haitian Earthquake remediation.

They are called Luci and were evidently invented in response to the Hurricane in Haiti.  The light is solar powered and has an inflatable case, so it floats.

When deflated, the light is about the size of a pancake. a ring of LEDs provide the light.

There is a low beam, high beam, and flashing.

Seems like a charge only lasts a couple hours so I'm not too sure how good it is as an emergency light.  It works pretty good as a reading light while your partner is sleeping...

Composting Toilet Part 2 - Pooped again

I left off, nearly a year ago, with my Head rip-out and replacement with a composting toilet.  
















just to recap, my motivation...


miles of sewage hoses and a holding tank that drained back into the toilet while sailing.










With my toilet ripped out of the head, I got some jobs working Monday to Friday out of town. 

As you can guess, I wasn't motivated to work on the project when home on weekends.  So little progress was made.

To exacerbate the situation...

...as projects often go, the deeper I dug, the more work I wanted to do "while I was at it". 











I replaced the old fresh water hose throughout the boat.











I rebuilt the head vanity replacing the old cabinet with new hardwood ply and replacing the old faux wood formica with new ply covered with faux slate tile :) I chose the darker tile on the right which blended in nicely with Sedna's mahogany interior.



I removed the vinyl wallpaper, scraped off the icky sticky glue, and painted the bulkheads with Interlux topsider. 



And finally I got back to the composting toilet. I built a cardboard mock-up of a simple square cabinet.  The pieces were my templates for cutting the plywood pieces later








... not a big deal for the simple rectangles, but very helpful for the toilet side/sink cabinet front that needed to conform to the hull shape.









I had a couple failed attempts at making a urine separator from pvc bedpans etc, then I decided to cut my losses and buy one from the Swedish company www.Separett-usa.com. Expensive? Yes. Worth it? I think so.












It has been harder than I expected to find acceptable receptacles.  I can't say I'm totally satisfied, but I have a workable solution.








I'm pretty happy with the 1.5 gal laundry detergent bottles for urine. 

The bottle in the picture has blue some "found" port-a-potty deodorizer.  I won't be buying any, but it is nice to have some additional color to identify the fluid level to avoid overflow.  That said, it takes me over a week before I empty the urine container.  I keep a spare in the cabinet beside the head.





I'm less happy with the $3.95 black Rubbermaid PVC wastebasket for solids.














It  is working fine for now, but I want to install a stirring paddle and I think the rectangular shape just won't work.

I painted the front of the cabinet with Interlux Topside, oiled the top, and replaced the mahogany trim throughout the head.

The proof of course is in the the pudding... or in this case "pooping" and I must add "sailing".

There is no pumping, no opening and closing valves, no unpleasant odor...

... just open the toilet lid sit down, do your thing, do the paperwork (if depositing solids), toss the paper in the toilet, close the lid and walk away.  If appropriate toss a cup of mulch into the toilet from the container in the cabinet. 

I can pee standing up or sitting down and the liquid goes down the right path. 

I won't pretend the project was easy or that everyone should take it on.  

As I mentioned my boat was out of commission for months.  There was no way I could have sailed with the awful mess of supplies and tools in the in the cockpit and saloon.

But once again I'm happily sailing...

Sedna Sea Breeze Pale Ale

I finally opened the beer that I started brewing back in November 2013.  The key to this brew was the small 2 gal batch size due to the limited space onboard Sedna. This week I opened a couple bottles. Although I'd hoped for a hoppier flavor, the brew was quiet refreshing sort of like the breeze blowing in off the Pacific. 

Sedna's Letters

Few months ago I bought new letters for Sedna's name and home port.

Initially I matched the size of the prior home port letters which were only 3" tall. USCG calls for 4" tall block letters for the home port.