Glassed over sea cock inlet

[superheat6k]

Last question this morning.

The disused holding tank on my boat still has the outlet to underwater plumbed to the discharge pump, with a large 2" and very seized ball valve in the most awkward position known to man, indeed a surveyor has yet to find it.

So in view of its seized open condition, ridiculous position and current redundancy I was minded to remove it and glass over the opening inside and out.

Except someone has already glassed over from the outside only !

At first I thought I was losing the plot with my inability to locate to outlet skin fitting until I noticed a very slight depression I the approximate place it should have been.

Closer inspection on the inside shows whoever did this modification has surrounded the seacock lower area and presumably what remains of the internal part of the skin fitting with some form of brown plastic resin, rather doing the job properly and removing the entire fitting.

So do I return my prior state of blissful ignorance, or do I get various cutting tools out and complete this bodge job properly, bearing in mind the working location is horrible ?

I do wonder if the cowboy who did this still roams the wilds of Jersey practising mayhem to others' boats where my boat spent its entire former life !

 

[V1701]

In all honesty I'd probably tap a softwood bung in on the inside & enjoy your boat because the likelihood of "catastrophic" failure is just about zero given that it's already (albeit cackhandedly) glassed over from the outside. If at any point water did start seeping in you could at that time do a proper job of removing & reglassing...

 

[William_H]

You would want to check on the state of the ball valve occasionally but if it remains intact then I think your comments on difficulty of access mean you already know the answer. Plug it and hope as said. ol'will

 

[langstonelayabout]

In all honesty I'd probably tap a softwood bung in on the inside & enjoy your boat because the likelihood of "catastrophic" failure is just about zero given that it's already (albeit cackhandedly) glassed over from the outside. If at any point water did start seeping in you could at that time do a proper job of removing & reglassing...

Whilst I can't really disagree from a 'safe' point of view, the OP's boat is probably out of the water for the winter and that probably gives him a great chance to fix the problem in a way that will last the life of the boat without being a bodge. Time to fix it properly!

 

[Rocksteadee]

As an engineer unless you completely remove the fitting and make a full, complete and proper job of it, it will always be at the back of your mind

 

[Deleted member 36384]

I would remove the sea cock and skin fitting then reinstate the hull where the hole used to be. According to West System's repair guide for filling in old holes, quite a lot of GRP is tapered either side to make the repair. I doubt that by leaving the skin fitting and seacock in place that it would have been impossible to have prepared the hull correctly. It sounds as if there is no external skin fitting flange left. My worry would be that the bond in the existing plug fails.

This year I found myself in a similar position. An old shower sump outlet, above seawater, was found by the surveyor (10 year survey for insurance) to be no more than a hole in the hull with a piece of copper pipe bonded in and blanked off on the inside. The copper pipe was glued into the hull hole and appeared solidly bonded. As a result the boat is out the water now and it is being removed and the hull reinstated.

My advise would be to remove your old ball valve, remains of the skin fitting and reinstate the hull following West System guide, for example.

 

[superheat6k]

The problem inside is that the skin fitting is within ~15mm of a corner, so feathering the repair on the inside is a non starter.

Anyway I am going to cut the remnant of the inside section of the skin fitting and associated pile of resin and seized valve out, so I can better tell how the external patch has been achieved. It is right next to the keel box, so I expect the glass in that area will be quite thick.

 

[ghostlymoron]

I'm in the 'do it properly while you can for peace of mind' camp.

 

[stephen_h]

I'm in the 'do it properly while you can for peace of mind' camp.

I am sure your insurance company would also agree!

 

[superheat6k]

I am sure your insurance company would also agree!

I don't doubt this except the last two "Insurance approved" surveyors have not noticed this seacock with no outlet fitting !

So this begs the question, and without prior prompting (i.e. this thread), how the heck would they know of this potential problem ?

 

[Rocksteadee]

I don't doubt this except the last two "Insurance approved" surveyors have not noticed this seacock with no outlet fitting !

So this begs the question, and without prior prompting (i.e. this thread), how the heck would they know of this potential problem ?

They may notice when the boat is refloated and there is an obscure valve, the inside bit of a skin fitting but only a fibreglass plug from the outside

 

[superheat6k]

They may notice when the boat is refloated and there is an obscure valve, the inside bit of a skin fitting but only a fibreglass plug from the outside

Agree - but if you have presented professionals' reports, twice, would they have any grounds at all to repudiate a claim ?

 

[Rocksteadee]

Agree - but if you have presented professionals' reports, twice, would they have any grounds at all to repudiate a claim ?

Even without grounds the insurance company will still try to get out of it. Two reports does give you a good case though

 

[ghostlymoron]

I think the comments about insurance companies trying to 'get out of' claims are unfounded. I've had a couple of quite large claims with my insurance company both were settled promptly and fairly. Over my boating career I've received many times more in claims than I've paid in premiums.