Through-hull inspection, Minor maintenance

When you turned on your computer today, you were probably thinking, “Man, I sure hope I get something exciting to read about, like a guy writing about the condition of the through-hulls in his boat.”

It’s your lucky day. Here we go.

My 32-200 has four through-hulls in the head area on the starboard side of the boat.
I suspect these are all factory glassed-in installs from the 1990 launch.

Large #1: Direct blackwater out from the head
Large #2: Holding tank blackwater pump-out (via dedicated Whale Gusher pump)
Small #1: Intake for saltwater head flush
Small #2: Head sink drain.

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Inboard, these are gated with Marelon valves. All are in excellent condition and work well. I think Marelon would be difficult to ever beat in this circumstance, wholly protected from UV light, and impermeable to corrosion or rust.

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I also have a Y valve (not shown) to allow blackwater to go directly out of the boat or to be sent to the holding tank. It was stuck and I had been leery of unsticking it in the water, but I managed to free it so that it too is working just fine.

On the port side, I have three through-hulls under my galley sink.

1. Galley drain.
2. Saltwater intake for galley sink.
3. Raw water intake for engine impellet (with integrated grate)

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All are gated on the inboard side with Marelon valves which work well.

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My surveyor had noted a potential weakness with the impeller hose. I inspected the valve end and found everything in order. The end that connects to the impeller, however, was worn and cracking/rusting along the reinforcing wire in hose. I was able to clip off the last 1″ of the hose and re-attach it to the impeller easily. My project manager at the boatyard suggested the best way to cut these wire-reinforced hoses was to take a sharp blade (box cutter or equivalent) and cut the rubber portion, then trim the reinforcing wire with a good pair of diagonal wire cutters. (He kept calling the cutters “dykes,” and it took me a minute to pin him down about what exactly he meant.)

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Above the waterline on the port side I have a through-hull which is an exit for the emergency back-up spinner bilge pump:

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The inboard side is accessible via a circular door in the port bench settee:

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The other end connects to the spinner pump in the bilge. This provides a nice handy upward trajectory for the centifugal pump, so there is little chance of an airlock bubble.

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Finally, at the aft end above the waterline, I’ve got at starboard:

1. Wet exhaust
2. Cockpit scupper
3. Primary bilge
4. Shower bilge
5. [Edit August 2nd, 2020] Propane cockpit locker drain.
6. Manual bilge pump from the cockpit

At port:

1. Cockpit scupper

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These all seem functional, viewed from the interior. None are valved, all have high loops to prevent backwash while under way. I still need to figure out what the “other” small tube is. I think it’s from the engine (or maybe an overflow line from the hot water tank?)

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I also have two through-hull points forward of my keel for my sounder and paddlewheel transducers. These too seem to be in good shape.

So there you have it. All through-hulls and valves seem to be in good shape.
I prodded all of the backing plates and none of them were soft. I think I’m in good shape until the next haul-out.