Turning off Sea Cock Valve

[Phil_E]

I was told that I should ALWAYS turn off the valve (sea cock) which allows cooling water to flow through the engine when I'm done for the day. Why is this? The boat is on San Francisco Bay.

Thanks,
Phil

[67c&ccorv]

1. So you don't fill your motor with water when it won't start right away on the first try;

2. so your boat doesn't sink when a leak develops downstream of the through hull fitting when you are not on the boat and the auto bilge pumps can't keep up;

3. just don't forget to open it after your motor fires up!

[Dave O]

I don't know of any hard and fast rules about this.

I close all the seacocks at the end of the day except for the one in the head. The auto-bilge pump which is operated by a level switch is connected to that one.

Just seems safer to close the valves when I leave the boat.

[superdave474]

I close all seacocks if I am planning on being away from the boat for more than a day or two, at least the ones below the waterline. If one fails, it can sink the boat. Mine are all in excellent condition, but for all the money I put into my boat, and all the dollars I give up for insurance, its one thing I can do myself to provide a little more peace of mind. As far as the cooling water intake goes, I think that closing it would prevent any critters or other small organisms from finding their way into your water jacket.

And as it was stated before, don't forget to open it before you start your engine. As a rookie, I made that mistake and it cost me about two grand and a years worth of sailing. Now I open it when I am about to start the engine, and close it as soon as I am done using the boat. Get into the habit. Its not going to hurt, and will keep you vigilant.

[bdkorth]

You have probably already seen my post about my boat partially filling with water after my engine totally filled, then overflowed with water, taking all the motor oil. The cause is the valve at the thru hull failed. Then the motion of the boat siphoned all the water into my boat. Had I not been checking on her every other day I honestly think I ran a high risk of having lost her to this small failure. I have always been very diligent about opening and closing that particular thru hull. What I have done, and have found it works, is hang my ignition key over the handle of the valve, so that way I have to touch the valve handle to even retrieve the ignition key. It makes for a good reminder to open the valve.

Now I wait on gaskets and other parts to finish repairing my previously fully flooded engine from exactly the thru hull you are asking about...

Brad

[Kelly]

This is a little bit off topic but I do leave the sea cock valves open that are connected to my cockpit drains. Otherwise rain water collects in the cockpit with no place to go. These valves open under the water line so a risk is present.

That said, I close the sea cock valve feeding the A4 cooling circuit whenever I'm finished for the day.

Kelly

[rigspelt]

In general, I imagine the system at most risk of such a leak likely would be the raw water engine coolant, because there are so many more things that can go wrong downstream of the seacock than in a simple cockpit drain system.

I plan to leave at least one cockpit drain open for the same reason, I think -- I would not want the cockpit to fill with rainwater while the boat isunattended. It seems to me that cockpit drain systems are very unlikely to fail on a C&C 27, which has short vertical runs of very skookum hose. As long as the throughull, seacock body, tailpipe, hose, hose clamps and hose joints are secure and in good condition, I think it is highly unlikely they would leak while the boat was unattended.

That said, google turns up ugly cockpit drain problems. See for example http://www.tritonclass.org/mir/COCKPITDRAINS.htm. Google turns up examples of unusual cockpit drain runs that are not simple vertical runs, or are awkward to get at for inspection/maintenance, or join with other drain systems, or allow water to lie in them and freeze in winter, Clearly, some systems are more likely to be at risk of leaking.

[gfatula]

The cockpit drains on the Islander 28 can freeze. The way they are routed and the fact that they drain above the WL is the reason they hold water in a trap. I installed a garboard plug at the lowest point in the bilge and an additional flush cockpit drain with a hose I connect when it is in storage for the winter. That additional drain is closed when the boat is in the water and the winter hose is stored.

[Phil_E]

Not filling the boat with water is a plenty good reason for me

Thanks.