bow thruster

[Guest]

Found source of water filling up foward bilges. Previous owner fitted D.I.Y bow thruster. Looks like it's leaking from thruster ( the tube ), Is there a product that i can use to seal leak from inside , or am i being naive , & the boat has got to come out of the water and spend £0000s because previous owner bodged it up. Please help

 

[Guest]

A few weeks ago I fiited a new skin fitting, put plenty of sikkaflex around it and it still leaked, but after a few hours it went off and dryed up, try smearing some round it as a temporary measure but do it as soon as possible, get a good grp laminator to ground out the crack and fill with gelcoat and matt.

paul js.

 

[Guest]

does this mean it's got to come out of water ?

 

[muchy_]

As always, don't wait until your sitting in your dinghy watching the bow of your boat slip beneath the waves thinking to yourself " B***OCKS, wish I'd done the job properly now".

Thats what I do when I can feel a bodge coming on and it does the trick every time.

 

[Medskipper]

It depends how much its leaking? the end of the summer season is only a couple of months away so if its not too bad, keep a very close eye on it and use the boat a while longer. But yes the boat has to come out to fix it properly. Any type of mastic will not seal it from the inside of the hull, its my guess it has to be glassed up correctly or of course if your boat is steel it has to be properly welded.

Barry



I just want to retire with my boat to the Med!

 

[ccscott49]

Use sikaflex and keep a very close eye on it until the end of the season, then do the job properly, it probably won't be as expensive as you think, I would also add, I wouldn't be doing any cross channel stuff and I'd avoid slamming about!!

 

[tcm]

I would say it'll need to come out of the water. Cos, at one time it wasn't leaking, now it is. So something has happened. Hopefully, it's bodge-uppable with grp. But that the fronty bit that ploughs thru the water, and theres a propellory bit with motor up there too. Silkaflex on the inside feels a bit bodgy, even for me. I wd keep the bodging for shower doors, galley tables and so on. But a decent fixer should be able to do it in a day, I bet. Find someone who can fit bowthrusters. Or, find out who retro-fited the thing in the first place? They may feel a bit embarased and do a nice deal for you.

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

Personally, I would get a grp specialist to look at it immediately and if she has to come out of the water, then do it. Say £300 for a lift/relaunch + £200 for the grp work and you'll get the hull scrubbed as well. Thats £500 for peace of mind, especially as, with luck, you've still got at least 3months boating left in the season
And another thing. If she does sink because of this, your insurance company is going to take a dim view of any claim if they think you had prior knowledge of the problem but chose not to do anything. So lets hope they dont lurk on this Forum!

 

[tcm]

Re: agreed! nm

.

 

[david_bagshaw]

I take it the source is not the shaft seal or something similar.

If the leak is where the tube is glassed to the hull I would...


Get the boat out straight away, what about the effect of wicking, damaging the surrounding area.

what did the surveyor have to say about the installation at your time of purschase?


David
www.euroboating.net

ps

sorry I think the cost will be much greater than indicated above, for if the problem is poor glassing in of the tube it will need to be removed / replaced, as undoubtably there will be poor grp elsewhere.<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1>Edited by david_bagshaw on 31/07/2002 13:19 (server time).</FONT></P>