Double launch. Seacock trouble.
All started very well.
Early in the morning it was pouring rain, ugly weather. I showed up in the boatyard and we loaded Meritaten onto launching cart. We were the first boat to launch today. Rain turned into skyfall.
As every year this moment rises blood pressure: how much will she leak the first hour?
To my surprise (and expectations) I could not see any substantial leaks! Drips of water here and there, nothing to worry about.
Anders lifted my mast from storage and I rigged it for stepping on the keel. That went quickly, too.
Next boat was about to be launched in half an hour so I rigged the mast, without tensioning the rig yet, and motored away from the slip. Lennart came to prepare mast for Andrina so we had a chat. As every year - he joked that I have the wrong mast.
Yes, I know… it’s aluminium. It should be wood!
After arriving into my summer place just few hundred meters away I worked on ropes and some housekeeping procedures, monitoring level of water in the bilge.
Somewhere there was a leak which was slowly adding water even though I could see that all plank seams in the cabin and fo’c’sle are already tight and dry. Probably in the engine room, I thought. It was small enough to not worry about - after all the boat needs few hours to swell so it will go away by tomorrow. I could not see anything below the engine anyhow so nothing could be done.
Then, just as I was leaving, I opened the engine room to close seawater intake seacock. Then I saw it - it was leaking around the damn seacock! It was loose! I moved it slightly (it should not be possible to move a seacock!) and leakage increased. Damn!
Quick action followed - to seal it temporary, so that bilge pump will not have to work too hard before I fix with Anders taking the boat on hard for repairs. “Stay Afloat” did the job alright but it is only temporary, I cannot sail the boat with such an issue.
I agreed with Anders that we take Meritaten up at the end of the day - there were many boats to launch today.
I came back at five. Anders was not there but I decided to motor back to slip anyhow. Weather was trying to cheer me up.
We loaded the boat on the cart and took her out from water.
After lots of cursing and many trials to unscrew the seacock, thru-hull and splitter Anders said that we need to cut the thing out. Angle grinder took care of the external collar and I could bang out the rest.
Time budget was shrinking as Anders needed to head home. I was desperate to fix this today and put the boat back to water. Otherwise she would need to wait another few days to weekend or I needed another day off from work!
Eventually we found replacement parts in Shipyard’s vast workshop. Sika onto seacock, Loctite for threads and we screwed everything together… just to find out that we need to do it again because I reverted pipes fitting for the engine and kitchen. Yet again Sika and Loctite. I was sweating and cursing. Finally all was in place. We launched her again and the seacock is not leaking. Anders went home and I was relieved.
I’m not perfectly happy with the way it is installed. It’s still a bit sensitive. Moreover - the thru-hull is placed on planks seam, very unfortunate location. I need to rebuild this after the season, with proper wooden block backing and sealing this entire area, as described by USCG standards. I will probably replace this whole thing with silicon-bronze seacock. The old one broke while I was trying to unscrew it. It was old, yes, but being made of brass (which contains zinc) contributed to accelerated ageing. Bronze will last forever.
Relieved and no longet time pressed I left the slip and parked on the side. Gathered tools and kept my eye on the bilge. No increase in water. We are good to go back.
Back to my summer place. A few minutes to secure the boat in the evening sun. Neighbour’s Goliath boat shadows Meritaten which seems so small.