something to think about

[mcsmd]

I have been looking at these postings for a very short time but several issues appear to take up a lot of the space. There are repeated references to safety issues, equipment lists required for safety, and discussions of what can go wrong. There are also several references to at least one or more boats that have sunk off the coast recently. One went down very quickly at the Chicken Ranch fishing for halibut, and maybe more (I can not tell if there are multiple references to the same boat). I have come to some conclusions.

A failure of a thru-hull fitting (or the pipes from such a fitting) has to rank fairly high on the list of what can go wrong.

The boat crew cannot find, reach, or fix the problem from inside the boat.

Such a leak will sink the boat fast. Just look at how fast a boat fills up at the ramp when a plug is left out.

The water off our coast is very cold but getting into the water to plug the fitting is the only solution. If necessary, plug every fitting until you can sort out the problem.

If the water is that cold, then preparation is needed.

Therefore, on your safety lists, please consider a wet suit top or farmer john, a mask, fins, and rags (or plugs made for the fittings). The wet suit will also serve as a better than nothing second survival suit. Unless someone on a boat is willing to get wet, then everyone on that boat will be wet very quickly.

[Miss B Haven]

mscmd - good point. I carry the "plug" kit (tapered cedar plugs of various sizes up to 2 1/2 in). These are primarily for thru hulls, hoses or ? of uniform size. A couple of tubes of 5200 or Polysulfone and a piece of canvas /tarp will patch that hole (not a nice round small hole) that unseen waterlogged log just made in the hull. :shocked:
What I don't have is the wet suit on board. The old ski suit is going to get washed down and put in the boat. A mask and snorkel need to go on the list! [img]graemlins/idea.gif[/img]
The other thing I've been thinking about is an emergency " crash" pump. I've seen lots of recommendations about teeing off the main raw water intake for the engines. The problem I see is that these are always manual 1/4 turn valves and you would have to dive in the bilge (amongst turning belts and flywheels) once you figure out you're going down. How about a solenoid valve?
A high water bilge alarm is high (no pun intended) on my priority list too! Not many boats have them, mine included. [img]graemlins/stupid.gif[/img]
PS - A tarp with ropes already attached to the grommets can be worked under the hull relatively quickly and tied off to the rails without going in the water. It won't stop the leak but it may slow it down enough for the bilge pump to keep up.