What Did You Do To Your Boat This Week?
- Thread starter Stizzla
- Start date
sad. Good thing I'm not going to! 
DanJ
Well-Known Member
Performed the renaming ceremony today. I was not able to get the boat to the ocean as it was nasty windy but luckily the boat is stored right beside the Stamp River so we made do. Now the new name is on the boat and the old name is gone from Poseidons memory.
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seachicken
Well-Known Member
This weekend I finally finished up reworking the mounting of my main downrigger pads that I wasn't happy with.
The gunwales were built up to 3-3-1/2" thick but tapered on the lower side. I bored the holes out to 3/4" and put a little tapered piece of aluminum on the bottom to square up the surface for the nut. I filled the holes with 650 toughened epoxy with some filler. Outboard holes had a 1" void in the middle so I put some 3/4" aluminum tube in to contain the epoxy (a couple still leaked into the void though). Last I pilot drilled the holes nice and square with a 1/8" and a drill bushing and then 1/4".
Extra hole on the lower side between the outboard holes is just a vent hole I drilled 3/16" dia into the void and epoxied with a syringe (and drew out excess) to vent the void just in case of pressure buildup in the sun.
Pretty happy with how they turned out and very confident that won't be a point of failure. Next will be aluminum pads maybe...
The gunwales were built up to 3-3-1/2" thick but tapered on the lower side. I bored the holes out to 3/4" and put a little tapered piece of aluminum on the bottom to square up the surface for the nut. I filled the holes with 650 toughened epoxy with some filler. Outboard holes had a 1" void in the middle so I put some 3/4" aluminum tube in to contain the epoxy (a couple still leaked into the void though). Last I pilot drilled the holes nice and square with a 1/8" and a drill bushing and then 1/4".
Extra hole on the lower side between the outboard holes is just a vent hole I drilled 3/16" dia into the void and epoxied with a syringe (and drew out excess) to vent the void just in case of pressure buildup in the sun.
Pretty happy with how they turned out and very confident that won't be a point of failure. Next will be aluminum pads maybe...
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jackfish
Active Member
Partial winterizing. What I mean is, winterized the head and washdown pump. The boat is welded aluminum with a cabin and cuddy, trailered, and sees plenty of use in the salt all winter. So I just try to prevent those pumps and lines from freezing, which I can. Based in the gulf islands.
Question for folks is what is a good way to get the RV antifreeze to suck up into the lines from the outside of the hull? I have tried the sloppy method of a plunger, which is terrible. Gotta be a better way? Or are those pumps so clever that i just need to keep the valves open and they will naturally drain themselves?
Question for folks is what is a good way to get the RV antifreeze to suck up into the lines from the outside of the hull? I have tried the sloppy method of a plunger, which is terrible. Gotta be a better way? Or are those pumps so clever that i just need to keep the valves open and they will naturally drain themselves?
seachicken
Well-Known Member
Do you have good access to your through hulls? Can you take the lines off and put them in the jug of antifreeze?
jackfish
Active Member
That's a good point. I do have access. The clamps are not screw type, so I'd have to pull the lines and swap out the clamps. And the lines are short and stiff. But i could rig up a flexible extension...
seachicken
Well-Known Member
Or if you can just find rubber hose that's close enough to jam in the through hulls from the outside might not take much to seal up. Even if you need an assistant to hold it.
Max123
Well-Known Member
Not sure I follow - are you trying to extract fluid from these lines or pump RV antifreeze into them.
In either case, maybe try a fluid extractor - these are like a giant syringe and attach with a 1/4" hose. You could likely feed it down the thru-hull to extract- or just insert from the outside and temporarily seal it with some putty so it will hold a vacuum and you should be able to suck out. the line Alternatively, if you are trying to cleanly fill the line with RV anti-freeze from outside, this works too.
These are great for a lot of applications. They only come with a short length of hose, but I just bought a 4ft length from the hardware store and it works great.
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jackfish
Active Member
Trying to get RV antifreeze into the pumps and lines that I don't need in the winter. The head, and the washdown pump are my main concerns. One suggestion has been to push a line into the through-holes under the hull and draw the antifreeze up. Another is to pop off the lines on the inside of the hull, and try to stick them into a jug of antifreeze to draw the fluid in that way.
Max123
Well-Known Member
How about this:
Step 1: buy 4ft of 1/4" tubing and a plug sized so you can effectively block your thru-hull fitting
Step 2: Drill hole in plug to match outside diameter of tubing
Step 3: Glue/seal tubing into plug, and then insert into thru-hull
Step 4: Insert loose end of tubing into container of RV anti-freeze
Step 5: Run washdown pump / head and it should suck the antifreeze up into the system.
If you want to get fancy, add a primer bulb to the tubing to avoid any risk of air locking the pump (if the pump isn't self priming).
Do a nice job and its a useful little contraption you can save in your winterization toolbox
Step 1: buy 4ft of 1/4" tubing and a plug sized so you can effectively block your thru-hull fitting
Step 2: Drill hole in plug to match outside diameter of tubing
Step 3: Glue/seal tubing into plug, and then insert into thru-hull
Step 4: Insert loose end of tubing into container of RV anti-freeze
Step 5: Run washdown pump / head and it should suck the antifreeze up into the system.
If you want to get fancy, add a primer bulb to the tubing to avoid any risk of air locking the pump (if the pump isn't self priming).
Do a nice job and its a useful little contraption you can save in your winterization toolbox
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Sir Reel
Well-Known Member
I used to just out blow my water lines like irrigation lines.
Disconnect the hose at the pump and hook up your compressor on low like 40psi. Open all the taps and blow out the water.
Don't like having to deal with the antifreeze in the spring.
If you put an adapter in the line makes for an easy job each year
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