British yacht Kersti sinks

water alamrms....

Available in do it your self outlets

used as wet basement alarms

9 volt battery

very loud siren

HomeDepot etc

in NA probably available worldwide in do it yourself outlets for less than ten dollars or equivalent
 
Or...

BlowingOldBoots said:
...what do others think - bonkers converting your bulkhead and existing door?
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David_Jersey said:
I don't think bonkers :p

I am (slowly!) working towards that. As you identified, sealing the door is one thing, ensuring no gaps elsewhere in the bulkhead also needs doing - that's where I am at the moment.

...

A watertight bulkead between the saloon and the enginebay is going to take a bit more thinking - to get above 6 inches :D
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Alternatively get an Etap or Sadler :-)
 
converting to a watertight bulkhead

BlowingOldBoots said:
Anyway, just some thoughts on this post, what do others think - bonkers converting your bulkhead and existing door?
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Not bonkers, but I suspect it is not quite as simple as you suggest. I think the limiting factors would be the strength of the wall structure itself, and the strength with which it is bonded to the hull - not just at the bottom, but top and sides as well.
Even bulkheads that are designed as structural will have been designed to support compression loads, not a load on the face of the bulkhead. I suspect that a "converted" watertight bulkhead might work well, up to a point, then fail spectacularly.
 
bbg said:
Not bonkers, but I suspect it is not quite as simple as you suggest. I think the limiting factors would be the strength of the wall structure itself, and the strength with which it is bonded to the hull - not just at the bottom, but top and sides as well.
Even bulkheads that are designed as structural will have been designed to support compression loads, not a load on the face of the bulkhead. I suspect that a "converted" watertight bulkhead might work well, up to a point, then fail spectacularly.
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Agreed. A six foot high by eight foot wide bulkhead has an area of 6912 square inches and an average head of three feet, which is a tenth of a bar, which is 1.5 psi. Total load: ten thousand pounds. That's quite a lot.
 
A few of things....

If you sail with your doors open below, it's easier and quicker to spot problems when the occur, rather than finding out after they have occurred and you're then playing catch up.

If anything stops working that should check it out, funny sound from the stern gland, log slows or stops, check it out there and then, no matter how rough

A bilge alarm in the centre line of your boat will only go off when the water reaches the centreline (sounds obvious but 3 hours on one tack and a lot of water will have to come in before it goes off!)....i.e. if you are heeling the only way it will go off is if you tack or until the water fills the leeward side and is up to the centre of the boat.

Bungs for all skin fittings need to be easily available so you can get to them with one had on the sea cock.

Operate all your sea cocks as often as you can practically do so...Including the ones that are either hard to get at or the ones you leave on (if you do)

A watertight bulkhead is a great idea, but with the weight in the fore cabin full of water the boats handling would be a nightmare, and you need to have a way of getting into the cabin again to get the water out, or drain it in a controlled manner.

Finally,

Always put you bucket in the locker last.

The three time I've been sailing and the boat has started filling with water (1st heavy weather - defective hatch seals, 2nd split stern gland, 3rd log leaking), a bucket was by far the best bailer. Either down the sink, into the cockpit of even into the bog and pump. It won't get blocked, and the old phrase that "there is no better bailer than a frightened man with a bucket" is true....I know I've been that man
 
snooks said:
Either down the sink, into the cockpit of even into the bog and pump. It won't get blocked, and the old phrase that "there is no better bailer than a frightened man with a bucket" is true....I know I've been that man
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Here's an idea for an article - maybe more PBO than YM...

Find a suitable boat - ideally something that's about to be broken up or undergo a complete refit anyway. Tow it to a shallowish bit of water - just a foot or two u nder the keel - on a nice day. Then open a seacock, and see how long it can be kept up by all the various methods suggested. For how long can two men and a bucket stop a Centaur from sinking? Maybe several tests with different techniques ...
 
orbister said:
Here's an idea for an article - maybe more PBO than YM...

Find a suitable boat - ideally something that's about to be broken up or undergo a complete refit anyway. Tow it to a shallowish bit of water - just a foot or two u nder the keel - on a nice day. Then open a seacock, and see how long it can be kept up by all the various methods suggested. For how long can two men and a bucket stop a Centaur from sinking? Maybe several tests with different techniques ...
Click to expand...

Great idea! But why not a bit deeper and instead of a Centaur one of those ugly pinched stern Sadlers - not the pretty transom hung ruddered yins.
 
I have heard the argument for using the raw water engine inlet as an emergency pump before and while I do not doubt its feasability I cannot see that the amount of water an average engine pumps out would make it worthwhile ? I looked at my exhaust the other day and the water coming out was pretty small.

The clutch driven pump on the engine is a superb bilge pump. On a boat I ran it had a T valve that made it possible to be used as a fire pump. An excellent arrangement.

Chris
 
I presume a clutch-driven pump is, erm, clutch driven so as to allow you to switch it off when not needed? What sort of impact would they have on engine performance?
 
having been in such a situation:-

you spend alot of time checking the obvious, heads, other through hull fittings which can be extremely hard with only a small amount of water in the hull and above the fittings

the amount of debris is unbelievable; in our case even the RNLI pump was having great difficulty and had to be re started on a number of occasions
 
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