You Tuber Sinks

[Don C L]

Pretty strange for a thru-hull or sea cock to suddenly fail, though I could imagine that if, just before they left the boat, they jammed something in a compartment with a thru-hull and unknowingly broke the hose. I’d sure be checking the prop shaft seal too though. There was a boat in the news a while back that sank at its mooring due to that failing.

[NPCampbell]

I noticed that they make a motorized marelon seacock. That seacock hooked to the appropriate float switch might provide automatic protection against these types of problems?

https://www.forespar.com/pdf/product/SmartValveROV.pdf

[hellosailor]

NP-
I'm not sure how much I'd trust a motorized seacock. OK, on a five hundred foot long ship, with the infrastructure to support motorized seacocks AND a bank of indicator lights to confirm their position and operation--like the ballast vent indicators on a submarine--absolutely yes.
But small-craft electrics when it is so simple to just send someone down and turn the lever...I have more faith in fewer electrics.

kisero-
In the States those plugs are usually dry soft balsa wood, which can be pounded in pretty firmly, and they swell up as they absorb some water. So they fit very snugly, and if that seacock failed in the middle of the night, offshore, in six foot waves? You might rethink whether it would be better to plug from the inside, or to send a crew over the side to do it.
In adverse conditions, using a collision mat (damage mat) on the outside to mitigate water intrusion, and keeping all crew on the boat, preferably in the boat, has some value.

[barnakiel]

A facebooker 'Saraband' sank at anchor last week. I wonder if these two could be related.


;-)
b.

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by Don C L

Pretty strange for a thru-hull or sea cock to suddenly fail, though I could imagine that if, just before they left the boat, they jammed something in a compartment with a thru-hull and unknowingly broke the hose. I’d sure be checking the prop shaft seal too though. There was a boat in the news a while back that sank at its mooring due to that failing.

Its common for boats in marinas to sink this way, but usually its a failed hose on an open seacock.