A few weeks ago I added a tee piece to the hose leading out of the port water tank to connect the hand pump in the head. Thereafter using water pressure from the port tank resulted in constant spitting at the tap - air was getting into the system. I soon confirmed that all of the water from the port tank was ending up in the bilge. The hoses looked OK so I pulled out the tank in less than 90 minutes of work. The half-inch outlet pipe was cracked at the joint. Scotty pulled it off easily with his hand.
He then cut a square section out of the top of the tank to inspect the interior and reported that the tank is extremely well built of 1.6 mm stainless steel and is in excellent condition - great news because he estimates that building a new one will cost about $1200. He will replace the outlet pipe with a slightly heavier one that should see me out. Next week I will pull out the starboard tank for the same treatment.
It is very fortunate that my fiddling with that tee piece brought out that weakness because developing that leak during the cruise could have been dangerous and certainly would have caused a lot of trouble and expense.
This blog began in late 2006 with the planning and preparation for a circumnavigation of the world in my 39-foot sail boat Pachuca. It then covered a successful 5-year circumnavigation that ended in April 2013. The blog now covers life with Pachuca back home in Australia.
Pachuca
Pachuca in Port Angeles, WA USA
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
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