Plumbing, Bilge, Part 2: New Hoses, Routing and Dry-Fitting

One of the new bilge pump hoses during a dry-fit of the components

Having purchased the new bilge pumps and having made a rough plan for the routing of the hoses for these pumps, I now needed to buy the new hoses and dry-fit them into place, just to make sure that my rough plan was a sound one. My steps to accomplish these tasks on Oystercatcher, my Ericson 25, are the subject of this posting.

You'll recall that my rough plan called for me to route the hoses from the bilge aftward to the lazarette, and from there upward into the port side cockpit locker. There, they would arch upward to form an anti-siphon loop before joining the through-hulls in the transom.

I've said it many times before, but in the refitting of a sailboat, it's often necessary to have multiple projects underway at one time, since the lack of progress in one or more of these projects impedes progress in others. Such was the case when it came to my replumbing of the boat, especially the bilge. These hoses, as I said, were to pass through the lazarette. This was an important space. It would house the new battery bank; it would house the new freshwater tank; and it would house components of the new electrical system, among other things. It was necessary for me to figure out exactly where I would route the bilge pump hoses before I could figure out exactly where I needed to install the new shelf for the new battery bank.

The plywood shelf had to be large enough to support the battery box, but it couldn't be too large. Otherwise, there wouldn't be enough room for the bilge pump hoses to pass between it and the freshwater tank.

The hose that you see pictured is Shields brand, 148 series hose. It's a tough, vinyl hose that's suitable for the plumbing of heads, bilge pumps, and freshwater tanks. I ended up using this piece of hose for the plumbing of my freshwater tank. Why? Because it was too rigid for the confines of this space.

Nevertheless, for the time being, it gave me a good idea of where to locate the battery bank shelf.

The rigidity of this Series 148 hose was most pronounced in the confines of the cockpit locker. The turns that the hose had to make in this space were just too tight.

I replaced this Series 148 hose with Shields brand, Series 141, Black Multiflex hose. This hose was much more cooperative. Like the 148 hose, this hose was smooth on the interior. That was a good thing, because it would not impede the flow of water. I liked it that this 141 hose was both black and clear at the same time. The black finish would conceal smudges and thus look cleaner and neater over time than would a white bilge pump hose. The clear view through the walls of the hose would allow me to spot any obstructions that might occur.

In the cockpit locker there already existed a hole for the 1-1/2 inch manual bilge pump hose. Now I needed to drill two new holes, one for the 3/4 inch primary bilge pump hose and one for the 1-1/8 inch emergency bilge pump hose. In the top right corner of the pictures above and below you can see the old hole for the old electric bilge pump. This hole I would eventually use for the starting cable for my motor.

I used my hole-saw attachments on my Makita electric drill to make these cuts. As I made them, I held the drill at an angle so that the holes themselves would be at an angle. This would help the hoses make the sharp turns they needed to make.

The construction of the tray of this cockpit locker resembled the deck of the boat. Between two layers of fiberglass there was a 3/8 inch thick piece of balsa core material. Knowing that this core material can and will absorb water and thus will rot, I would later treat these cutouts with epoxy so as to protect the core from water intrusion.

In the picture below, you can see the disassembled Whale brand manual bilge pump. At this time I was also engaged in a rebuild of this pump. I carried the pump housing back out to the boat for this dry-fit, just to make sure everything worked well together in this tight space. The pump, of course, would be located on the inboard side of the cockpit locker.

Here's a shot from the lazarette of the three hoses. You'll notice that the smallest one - the 3/4 inch hose for the primary bilge pump - is white. I had attempted to save a few bucks by using Spa Flex hose from a home improvement store instead of the Shields brand, Series 141 hose. It turned out that the internal dimensions of Spa Flex hose are slightly larger than normal hose. For this reason, the Spa Flex hose would not fit snugly either on the through-hull or on the pump. When I realized this, I replaced this Spa Flex hose with the Series 141.

It was important to me for the hoses to be bunched together and off to the side. I was constructing a shelf that would sit atop the water tank, and I planed to store items on top of this shelf. I didn't want the hoses to obstruct my access to this space from the aluminum hatch directly above it. Similarly, I didn't want the hoses to obstruct my access to the reserve battery bank from the white plastic hatch in the cockpit locker directly above it.

From what I could tell, the hoses in these positions, were in the best possible location to maximize my intended uses for these spaces in the lazarette.

For more on my work in the lazarette, see my series of postings that begin here: http://www.ericson25.com/2013/06/lazarette-modifications-part-i-analysis.html

Here's how the hoses appeared from the cockpit. In the picture below, we are looking forward. As you can see, with the hoses off to the side, it's not difficult to access the space above the water tank. Likewise, it's not difficult to access the space on either side of the large battery box. This was where I planned to stow bags of trash and dirty clothes when cruising.

This shelf and this battery box were just the right size for this space. In case you're wondering, I would be installing two, Trojan brand T-125, 6 volt golf cart batteries in this Noco brand battery box.

Now that I had figured out exactly how I wanted to route these hoses, I could focus on the new through-hulls that I needed to install in the transom. That's the subject of my next posting.

This ends this posting on my choice and my routing of the new hoses for the new bilge pumps on Oystercatcher, my Ericson 25.

Lazarette Modifications, Part 14: Gluing Up the Battery Box Shelf and Final Painting

The battery box shelf, glued-up and painted

The end was now in site for this lengthy project concerning the modifications to the lazarette of Oystercatcher, my Ericson 25. Having painted a portion of the lazarette and having installed the cleats for the battery box shelf, it was now time for me to install the battery box shelf itself and to finish painting the parts that remained in this space.

For the painting of this space, I decided it would be good to do it in two separate stages. In the first stage I would paint the bilge area, since this would be difficult to paint after I had installed the shelf. I began, as always, by scrubbing the area with TSP (trisodium phosphate) and warm water.

Afterwards, I rinsed the area several times with fresh water.

To remove any dust or residue that might remain, I wiped the area with the proprietary thinner / solvent for the Pitthane paint that I would use.

I've discussed this two-part polyurethane paint many times before.

I did not apply the Pitthane in the bilge at the aft end of the cleats. This was an area that I had ground a long time before now in the expectation that I would be applying biaxial cloth to this area at the same time that I glued up the cleats. At that time, I was not quite sure where exactly I would install the cleats, so I used the angle grinder over the entire area. Now, it was starting to bother me that this would be the only area that would not be receiving any cloth. The grinding, of course, removed some of the original woven roving cloth. Biaxial cloth would make up for the loss, and probably make the area stronger than it was before.

While I was painting that bilge area, I put the left-over paint to good use by applying it to the area underneath the galley sink and icebox.

It was in this space that I planned to store new trash bags and other such items, so I thought it would be good to have it nice and bright. In the picture below you see two conduits for the electrical system. The wad of duct tape is covering the copper fitting for the drain for the icebox. I did not want to get paint on the copper. I really should not have been concerned about this, because I did not plan to install a hose on this copper fitting, since I did not plan to use the icebox for anything other than dry goods. In place of the icebox I would use a Yeti brand cooler that I would store in the main salon.

Anticipating that I would have left-over paint, I had taped the conduits in the space between the bulkhead and the icebox.

The next day, after the paint had cured, I broke out the 12 ounce biaxial cloth.

I cut two small pieces for each side.

Then I cut two L-shaped pieces that I would drape over the smaller ones.

After this, I got to work mixing the epoxy.

Just as always, I began by wetting the work area with neat epoxy.

Then I laid down the cloth, one layer at a time, thoroughly wetting each layer as I went.

When I was finished with the wet-out, I took a picture through the hatch in the cockpit. Due to the reflection of the light it was easy to see the weave of the cloth. This shows you why it is necessary to go back and apply thickened epoxy to the cloth. Without it, the weave will remain unfilled.

Mix, mix, mix . . . here I was, at it again.

Clearly the thickened epoxy made a big difference. As I've said elsewhere, it not only provides additional strength, but also it makes it much easier to sand.

Two days later, after the epoxy had cured, I returned to the boat with my Rockwell Sonicrafter oscillating tool with the sanding head attached.

It was annoying having to halt my progress and do this additional epoxy work in this part of the lazarette. In the end, however, I was glad that I had done it. Now I could rest assured that the hull was just as strong here as it was everywhere else.

After I had vacuumed all the dust, I wiped down the entire area once again with the proprietary thinner / solvent.

I painted the patched area at the same time that I applied the second coat to the areas that I had just painted several days beforehand. I would apply a second coat to the patched area when I painted the battery shelf.

Now it was time to focus on the permanent installation of the shelf.

I cut two layers of 12 ounce biaxial for each side.

Afterwards, I did a dry-fit of the cloth, just to make sure that it fit into the space.

The large piece would overlap the smaller one, as always.

Satisfied with the dry-fit, I got to work with the epoxy, mixing up 3 ounces for the wet-out.

First I wet the hull.

Then I wet the underside of the battery box shelf.

Now it was time for some thickened epoxy. I started by mixing up a 6 ounce pot and thickening it to the consistency of peanut butter with colloidal silica.

This 6 ounce pot was only sufficient for one side, so I had to mix up another one to cover both cleats sufficiently.

Onto the cleats I laid the shelf, and soon thereafter I installed the stainless steel screws in the holes that I had pre-drilled.

With the thickened epoxy that remained, I laid down a fillet on each side of the shelf.

The fillets would provide strength, and they would allow a smooth transition for the cloth from the shelf to the hull.

With this out of the way, I began to focus on the lay-up of the cloth. I began by mixing up 6 more ounces of epoxy. Some of this I applied to the hull.

Most of it, however, went toward the wetting-out of the layers of biaxial cloth.

As I've said elsewhere, biaxial cloth is like a thirsty sponge.

A couple of hours after I had finished the wet-out of the cloth, I returned to the boat and mixed up 6 more ounces of epoxy. This I thickened to the consistency of ketchup.

I used this thickened epoxy to fill the weave of the cloth.

Two days later, after the epoxy had cured, I sanded the area, cleaned it up, and made ready to paint it with the Pitthane.

The first coat.

In preparation for applying the second coat, I as always lightly sanded the surface with 320 grit paper. This removed imperfections and provided some tooth for the second coat.

Then I mixed up my final cup of Pitthane. This was the last thing I had to paint in the refitting of this boat, and fortunately I had just enough Pitthane left for this second coat.

This lazarette had gone through a big transformation, and this white paint was as much a sign as anything else that things were now completely different. Now the only task that remained was to permanently install the two hatches that I had earlier temporarily installed in the cockpit and the cockpit locker.

This ends this posting on how I glued-up the battery box shelf and completed the painting of the lazarette in Oystercatcher, my Ericson 25.