Replacing or servicing seacocks in the water

[Zach]

Find a dock that has water for you at high tide, but not at low tide. Tie her with some stout line and

Get a few 20 foot shots of clear vinyl hose that will slip fit inside the fittings.

Take the hose off the fitting, slide the clear hose hose through the seacock and hold it above the waterline inside the boat. Keep sliding it out and hook it with a boat hook on the outside of the boat. Tie it above the waterline.

They make hose plugs, so you can plug the hose and pull it through from the outside and thread on bronze pipe caps.

Once they are capped, you can use a propane torch and heat up the body of the seacock until water dripped off your fingers turns to steam when it hits. Loosen up the locknut and tap gently with a mallet, against a piece of soft wood over the nut.

Hit it 10 times, try the handle...

Heat it up... Hit it again... Try the handle.

If you've got a good bit of marine growth inside the seacock, you'll need to get that out of the way, or at the least scrape it out.

Without lapping them, "closed" won't be closed without caps, as they will still weep around the corrosion.

Cheers,

Zach

[HopCar]

High zinc brass, such as used in the previously mentioned Home Depot valve, are not suitable for use in salt water because of a corrosion process called dezincification. Dezincification turns a strong piece of brass into a soft and weak copper sponge. It can happen surprisingly fast.


From Corrosionpedia: Dezincification is a process which selectively removes zinc from an alloy, leaving behind a porous, copper-rich structure that has little mechanical strength. It is a form of dealloying where zinc from brass alloy gradually dissolves.


Another point is that a ball valve screwed onto a thru-hull is not a seacock. A real seacock has a flange and is fastened to the hull. The connection between a ball valve and a thru-hull is very weak as the threads don't match. The ball valve has tapered threads and the thru-hull has straight threads.

[Cheechako]

Originally Posted by Ziggy

There seems to be a lot of interesting back story that you haven't shared yet. But it sounds like you picked up a "bargain" and now you're finding out how much a free boat costs.

But it sounds like you may be able to partially careen your boat, with the keel still submerged. This won't stop water from flooding in, but it will stop the boat from sinking. Then you should be able to replace the at least the engine seacock. You would have to work quickly on a seacock that is submerged. Careening a boat that big sounds like a bit of an engineering challenge, but a couple hundred years a go people used to do it with big ships.

Actually he shared that he was 7 days from anywhere to haul early on in the thread.....

[tdominic_97]

I am really more interested in what boat you have and some photos of it. Good luck with the seacock.

[JerseyJoe]

Originally Posted by lordgeoff

FFS. The first rule is do it properly and do it once. Pay the $400 and haul her. While out of the water do the cutlass bearing, inspect the hull thoroughly, look for blisters and damp spots, start of delaminations and give her a few thick coats of antifoul. Do your anode(s) with loctite and put her back in the water with confidence.
Quality is remembered long after price is forgotten.
Do it right.

The OP did say he was 800 NM from nearest haulout with questionable seacocks.

[Ziggy]

Originally Posted by Cheechako

Actually he shared that he was 7 days from anywhere to haul early on in the thread.....

Yes, I got that. But how did he find himself in that spot with a > 50T displacement boat that hasn't been maintained for 4 years?

[SVTatia]

Originally Posted by Ziggy

Yes, I got that. But how did he find himself in that spot with a > 50T displacement boat that hasn't been maintained for 4 years?

What difference would that make? He came here with a legitimate question to help him solve a problem. Do we interrogate him about how he got into a situation? I really don't see the relevance.

I wish the best of luck to the OP who now has many options to consider and I hope he will be able to pick the best that works for him.
That is why we come here for help, right?

[billr]

If all you need to do is un-freeze the sea-cocks, the tapered ones are elegantly designed to do that even in the water. It seems you may have read about that. But, removing an old seacock can turn into a nightmare. If you read my thread on the re-fit of my boat, you will get an idea of the challenge that can occur. The big problem is that you don't know how they were installed, and with what adhesives. If you have one above the waterline, maybe way above, then you could experiment. Otherwise, leave the seacock removal until you can pull the boat.
billr

[Ziggy]

Originally Posted by SVTatia

What difference would that make? He came here with a legitimate question to help him solve a problem. Do we interrogate him about how he got into a situation? I really don't see the relevance.

I wish the best of luck to the OP who now has many options to consider and I hope he will be able to pick the best that works for him.
That is why we come here for help, right?

It doesn't make any difference and I wish him the best of luck also. Furthermore, I tried to be helpful by offering some, I hope, constructive suggestions. However, I am still curious how he got into this bind. My question is just as legitimate as his, and he is certainly free to ignore it.

[Tx J]

Originally Posted by Ziggy

There seems to be a lot of interesting back story that you haven't shared yet. But it sounds like you picked up a "bargain" and now you're finding out how much a free boat costs.

But it sounds like you may be able to partially careen your boat, with the keel still submerged. This won't stop water from flooding in, but it will stop the boat from sinking. Then you should be able to replace the at least the engine seacock. You would have to work quickly on a seacock that is submerged. Careening a boat that big sounds like a bit of an engineering challenge, but a couple hundred years a go people used to do it with big ships.

A very large "engineering challenge" given that the OP probably has a pretty small crew and it's unlikely any semi/skilled assistance is available. A couple hundred years ago an average sailing vessel had a crew of dozens or hundreds, and the yards had thousands of workers.


Anyhow, how about thinking outside of the box?
The OP (cha0s) needs at least a steady supply of engine cooling raw water. The boat floats on a sea of it; the existing seacocks are suspect or unusable ATT, and cannot, or should not, be used to ingest that seawater.

Why not rig an input/suction hose of a suitable size over the side (via scupper, transom, whatever, or even a new hole/seacock through the hull slightly above the WL?). Then some piping, hose, ?, routed below the surface a reasonable distance (sort of a reverse snorkel).
Yes, it presents a few challenges, it needs to be solidly fastened to the hull, needs to draw at all angles of heel, etc. (and should be cleanly reversible later). Astern would likely be the best part of the boat to do this, vs alongside.
Then use a pump (with a spare OH) feeding a seawater manifold and filling a new temp/juryrigged/or borrowed daytank that is the source for the engine cooling system raw water.
All this juryrigging done to 1st class standards (urk...) to ensure reliability and safety, but keeping in mind it is a 'temporary' solution, just to allow a voyage to a suitable yard as desired (~800nm as given).
Won't even touch on any insurance or legal aspects, but if it needs to get done...

Risk assessment, anticipated weather factors, all the other 'readiness' items need to be considered too.


Your twin Bofors 40mm has been prepped and is loaded and armed, fire away...

[Terra Nova]

Originally Posted by Tx J

...Why not rig an input/suction hose of a suitable size over the side (via scupper, transom, whatever, or even a new hole/seacock through the hull slightly above the WL?). Then some piping, hose, ?, routed below the surface a reasonable distance (sort of a reverse snorkel).
Yes, it presents a few challenges, it needs to be solidly fastened to the hull, needs to draw at all angles of heel, etc. (and should be cleanly reversible later). Astern would likely be the best part of the boat to do this, vs alongside.
Then use a pump (with a spare OH) feeding a seawater manifold and filling a new temp/juryrigged/or borrowed daytank that is the source for the engine cooling system raw water.
All this juryrigging done to 1st class standards (urk...) to ensure reliability and safety, but keeping in mind it is a 'temporary' solution, just to allow a voyage to a suitable yard as desired (~800nm as given)...

Reminds me of the guy who was a peripheral visionary. He could sometimes see into the future, but way off to one side.

[Emmalina]

Originally Posted by HopCar

"no caulking will dry underwater except splash zone"
5200 will set underwater.

Have changed many sea-cocks while the boats are afloat.
Requires 2 guys and a lot of understanding.
We usually use 291 This has never been a problem setting or removing !
But we have used many different products!

[Boatyarddog]

Servicing sea cocks in the water is possible with wood plugs pounded into the hole from outside under the waterline.

If your replacing one, geeze haul it out.
You'll want to clean it well, and use a backing plate on the inside.
4200 it excellent.
Your not going to get a quality repair any other way.


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