Tuesday, April 04, 2017

SPRING CHECK SURPRISES: The Good and the Bad

A nice 60 degree F day in between rain storms. It has be awhile since I've checked on BIANKA about a month. Since that time we've had a near blizzard and some pretty heavy rains. I don't shrink wrap BIANKA for the winter having found the boat when shrink wrapped develops mildew in spots and generally tends to get grimy and feel humid when shrink wrapped. So I was surprised to see despite the snows and rains of the last month BIANKA's bilge was pretty dry except for the splash of antifreeze I left in it during my last visit:


She's a pretty tight boat. I think I helped make her tighter by taping over the cockpit hatches. This prevents excess water, ice and snow from leaking down below. Probably something I should do every year when storing her for the winter.

I just did a quick check and took some photos of a few things that are on the maintenance list. One of the items is the jammed Maceration pump. I'm not looking forward to working on this item for a number of reasons but, mostly because it's location looks like it is going to be a pain to get access to and remove. While taking some photos of the pump area I noticed that one of the clamps that secures the head intake and wash down hoses was severely rusted:


This is a boat sinking issue and it is moved to the top of the list of Spring Outfitting issues to address.

2 comments:

svfugu said...

It's pictures like that rusted clamp that make me appreciate my boat's head arrangement. The intake it right next to the pump handle. So opening/closing its seacock is just a matter of reaching down and turning the bright yellow handle -- one more step on the "procedure for using the head". It always stays in the closed position, except when the head is in active use.

Do you coat any of your clamps to inhibit rust? WD40, vaseline, permatex or lanocote or anything? I am in fresh water so atmospheric corrosion has never really been an issue. All my clamps and exposed parts of wiring terminals, and even the battery terminals for the propulsion bank are just bare metal. They are still shiny. There is no greening of copper or anything.

Capt. Mike said...

Yeah every boat has it's good access areas and bad access areas. On BIANKA seacocks and macerator pump are unfortunately under the cabinet in the head. Still pretty easy to shut when needed but, looks like it will be a bear to work in. I'm expecting the worse. Though removing the hoses out of the way and giving the area a good cleaning should making working on the Macerator pump repair a little easier. I have not really had to do any maintenance in this area since I bought the boat in 1995. So I really can't complain.

I'm thinking of spraying the clamps with Boeshield T9 that I have on board.