Be observant

[SmokyMtnGrady]

HI y'all:
I am in the Florida Keys visiting friends and staying at their canal front home . Yesterday we were preparing to go offshore when I noticed a lot of water coming from my forward bilge pump. I have never seen water come out of my forward bilge . So, I inspect the bilge and find it almost full of water. I dip my finger and taste it. It's sea water.

I then inspect all my through hull fittings from deck drains to fish boxes and I am looking into bilge with a flashlight. I noticed my live well pump leaking at the cap of it . I also discover my sea cock not sea cocking well. I work it to shut water off to the live well pump.

I decided to pull out the live well and inspect the situation further . We unscrew the cap to the top of the live well pump . There is an o ring in side of it which is damages . I suspect 14 freeze thaw cycles was the culprit ? I don't know . Either way we scour Key Largo for a new one on a Sunday . No luck so I bought an RTV gasket stuff . It worked as a short term solution plus the sea cock worked as well.

My boat was in the slip for a day and half and the leak nearly filled the forward bilge . If I hadn't noticed the water pouring out things could have gone wrong offshore . I have read too many threads where failed through hull fittings and such lead to catastrophic failures. There is or was no way I was leaving the dock until I solved the problem.

Moral of the story is to be observant of anything out of the ordinary and act on it.

 

[Hookup1]

What kind of livewell pump?

 

[SkunkBoat]

I've had the Rule livewell pump leak too. Another reason why I leave the seacock closed unless I need to use the pump.

 

[SmokyMtnGrady]

HI y'all:
I am in the Florida Keys visiting friends and staying at their canal front home . Yesterday we were preparing to go offshore when I noticed a lot of water coming from my forward bilge pump. I have never seen water come out of my forward bilge . So, I inspect the bilge and find it almost full of water. I dip my finger and taste it. It's sea water.

I then inspect all my through hull fittings from deck drains to fish boxes and I am looking into bilge with a flashlight. I noticed my live well pump leaking at the cap of it . I also discover my sea cock not sea cocking well. I work it to shut water off to the live well pump.

I decided to pull out the live well and inspect the situation further . We unscrew the cap to the top of the live well pump . There is an o ring in side of it which is damages . I suspect 14 freeze thaw cycles was the culprit ? I don't know . Either way we scour Key Largo for a new one on a Sunday . No luck so I bought an RTV gasket stuff . It worked as a short term solution plus the sea cock worked as well.

My boat was in the slip for a day and half and the leak nearly filled the forward bilge . If I hadn't noticed the water pouring out things could have gone wrong offshore . I have read too many threads where failed through hull fittings and such lead to catastrophic failures. There is or was no way I was leaving the dock until I solved the problem.

Moral of the story is to be observant of anything out of the ordinary and act on it.

What kind of livewell pump?

I want to say it's the Sure Flo by Pentaire. They had the exact one at West Marine. To be fair to the live well pump people, the boat dies sit outside under cover in the winter in the Smokies . I do drain all the pumps and open the sea cocks to to get water out in the fall. You get a lot expansion and contraction going on in the fall winter and spring.

 

[Hookup1]

Like this one? If so Iburn thru a couple a winter in the Keys. Never a gasket. Sometimes a seating or locking problem.

1100 GPH FC Tournament Series Livewell/Baitwell Pump | West Marine

Check out our 1100 GPH FC Tournament Series Livewell/Baitwell Pump and more from West Marine!

www.westmarine.com

More importantly how's the fishing? Sailfish still around?

 

[glacierbaze]

Read your post about 1 AM, after using my live well yesterday for the first time this year. It reminded me that I had left the seacock open, so I walked down to the marina and closed it. Luckily, it’s only five minutes away.

 

[Fishtales]

Close all cocks when leaving is good practice. Really no reason to have them opened unless you are running something.

 

[Mustang65fbk]

I always run through a mental checklist in my mind about what to do when I'm shutting my boat off, hooking it back up to the buoy and finally climbing overboard into my dinghy or kayak. I always lock the cabin door as well as the electronics compartment, tilt up the motor and lock it into place as well as throw the canvas cover back on the outboard motor lid, make sure that I have the keys, turn off the batteries with the battery switch back in the "OFF" position and make sure the levers on the seacocks are pushed back down. It's still always a very good idea to be observant and pay attention to what's going on with your boat at all times, though, as you avoided a complete disaster.

 

[Beyond A Wake]

Small issues can be bad, example from a number of years back.
I keep boat in dry storage indoors. Had it launched one day, went out and let it sit over night In water.
next morning I get to boat and open center console door to find life jackets inflated an everything floating around.........wtf.
Obviously something was leaking and bilge pump not working. 1. Turned out to be a cross threaded drain plug. Slight but enough of a leak.
2. Bilge pump did not work, why?
Turns out boat's previous owner kept it on a lift also over the winter and although it was witnerized in NOrth GA the bilge pump kept some water that froze and voila, cracked it.
A bitch to get to it but once replaced all worked and I make sure drain plugs are seated well.

happy motoring
H