Fine weed blocking engine water inlet

[Concerto]

Currently I am sailing on the East Coast and have found lots of fine weed in the Orwell, Colne, Swale and Medway. My cooling water stopped, so I cleaned my inline filter which was blocked. Water then flowed fine. However a few days later there was no cooling water coming out of the exhaust. The filter was clean. Tried the dinghy pump on the inlet hose - nothing. Removed the hose from the seacock and found it was completely blocked. Once cleared, no water still came out of the seacock. The dinghy pump finally removed the final blockage.



A number of other boats have suffered the same problem. So, keep an eye on the water from your exhaust.

 

[Boathook]

That weed does seem to be everywhere. There was a lot in Poole harbour last week.

 

[PeterV]

It’s twice blocked up my inlet at Haslar this year. Removing the inlet pipe from the strainer and blowing hard back through the seacock has cleared it each time.

 

[lustyd]

It’s twice blocked up my inlet at Haslar this year. Removing the inlet pipe from the strainer and blowing hard back through the seacock has cleared it each time.

This could lead to a worse failure if there's a strainer on the inlet outside the hull, which is quite common. looking at how thick that weed in the picture is it might just create a bung inside the hull strainer.
I don't have a better suggestion, but thought it worth a mention as all boats are different.

 

[Roberto]

I once had a possibly much worse occurrence: weed blocked the toilet pump and hoses, bowl half filled by... everything it's made for, and it was impossible to flush out.

 

[[70521]]

In France many years ago I watched a fellow club member have all sorts of overheating problems as he came into a drying harbour.

He limped in with about 0.02 m of water under his keel. Once the tide was well out I ambled over to him and in my best Franglais asked him for his harbour dues. We then set about sorting out the raw water intake and drinking his beer.

 

[johnalison]

I’ve motored out from Titchmarsh a few times recently but my filter is fairly clear. I’ve seen a lot of floating weed this week but over the years my saildrive has managed to avoid blockages, possibly to the greater depth.

 

[DanTribe]

I had problems at Pin Mill yesterday, it took several attempts to clear. Only the second time this has happened in 50 yrs of East coast pottering.

 

[Stemar]

I once had a possibly much worse occurrence: weed blocked the toilet pump and hoses, bowl half filled by... everything it's made for, and it was impossible to flush out.

Similar, but at least I was able to flush out and free the blockage, eventually, with a bit of wire poked down the pipe.

 

[johnalison]

Similar, but at least I was able to flush out and free the blockage, eventually, with a bit of wire poked down the pipe.

My Jabsco toilet picked up weed in Ireland and my attempts to free it caused it to split, with cracks that had started when it was installed and over-tightened. Waiting for a replacement kept us in Cork for an extra day or two and left me mentally traumatised to this day.

 

[Stemar]

My Jabsco toilet picked up weed in Ireland and my attempts to free it caused it to split, with cracks that had started when it was installed and over-tightened. Waiting for a replacement kept us in Cork for an extra day or two and left me mentally traumatised to this day.

Let me guess - you now have a Lavac