Flooded on the mooring
An everyday mistake with a hose connection nearly costs Roger Hughes his boat
An everyday mistake with a hose connection nearly cost Roger Hughes his boat
Freshwater hosepipes can be seen connected to lots of boats in marinas. A hose is connected from a tap on the dock to a pressure reducing inlet valve on the boat, which reduces municipal water pressure, usually from around 60lb down to 35lb. This pressurises all the boat’s water outlets meaning you don’t need to run the boat’s (usually noisy) electric pump when shoreside.
There’s a more even and usually stronger flow than a pulsating pressure pump, which is used for, say, a shower, and it’s silent with no drain on batteries.
Of course, water is fresh from the shore, too, instead of from tanks.
My 45ft schooner Britannia had the system installed by the boatbuilders. The ½in diameter plastic water pipes were therefore as old as the boat, circa 1978, with a maze of connectors all in a tangled mess in the bottom of the bilge. I was frequently repairing or replacing sections which leaked, or which cracked from time to time, and which the automatic bilge pump would always alert me to by switching itself on. I was very aware the whole system needed upgrading – but so did many other things on the boat. We didn’t live aboard, so it was more a question of fixing it as and when it broke.
It was always my practice to turn the water off at the dock whenever I left the boat, even for a short time, and when I left it for days, I’d actually disconnect the hose at the tap. Except, one time I forgot, but I was only in town for the afternoon…
The Down East 45 is a long keeler with an abnormally large bilge. It runs 26ft under the floorboards and is 4ft 6in deep to the keelson below. This cavernous area contained the Perkins main engine, a Kubota generator, water heater, 10 batteries and 8 electric pumps. It is an extremely large area, which I call the machinery bay. I actually built a wooden ladder under one floorboard to climb up and down safely.
When I returned to the boat, I immediately noticed the air conditioning had stopped, which was unusual, so I lifted a floorboard to check the water circulation pump, and received the shock of my long and varied sailing life! Water was sloshing about 12in below the floor beams.
Panic stations
I totally panicked and didn’t even think to test the water to see if it was fresh or saltwater – which would have immediately pointed me to a possible source of the flooding.
Instead, I dashed to the Marina office, only to be told their portable pump was waiting for parts. I went to the engineering shop nearby, and implored their help to ‘man the pumps’.
The owner came over immediately, pulling a portable petrol engine pump with a very long 3in diameter hose. After some heart-stopping moments, this roared into life, and I shoved the suction end into the water, which still seemed to be rising.
The pump soon started to reduce the water level, which was well over my brandnew batteries, all the pumps, and halfway up the engine and generator. The boat seemed to be down on her marks about 12in – that’s some water in a 45-footer!
As the powerful pump began to make its mark, cooler thoughts began to prevail, and I tested the water with a finger. It was definitely freshwater, and that was when I realised the dock hose was still switched on. A crowd had gathered by this time, and I was embarrassed to have to ask someone to close the tap. It seemed like an eternity before the water receded, to expose first the batteries, then the various pumps and motors which operate all the boats systems.
In total there are four electric motors on the electric toilet’s waste systems; a large 120V air conditioning circulation pump, a big water pressure pump, a deck-wash pump and the generator electric fuel pump. That’s eight electric motors, not to mention the two large starter motors and their solenoids for the main engine and diesel generator. All these had been completely submerged, including the main engine gearbox.
As the water receded below the battery tops, the bilge pump miraculously started up and did its best to help the pump. It had undoubtedly been overwhelmed with the powerful inflow, then shorted-out as water covered the batteries.
Even though the water was eventually pumped out, I remained in a state of shock. Worries about the damage and cost overwhelmed me, especially since much of the equipment was new and still under warranty, such as £700 worth of new batteries and £2,300 for a new generator, and many of the pumps.
Thinking of what was now swilling inside both the engine and generator motors made me feel physically sick. I found it difficult to formulate a list of priorities.
I began by unscrewing each battery filler plug and testing the specific gravity with a hydrometer. They were normal, and the rims of the plugs were dry. It seemed that no water had entered, and freshwater might not have done serious damage anyway.
I withdrew the main engine dipstick, which showed a layer of milky oil, as did the generator engine. Water could also be seen up to the filler neck in the gearbox. I needed to get it all out urgently!
I opened the engine oil drain plug and the catch-pan filled with a creamy mixture of oil and water. The generator contained the same mixture, which I drained into a bucket. The transmission drain-plug was inaccessible under the gearbox, so I used a ¼in neoprene tube and a small portable impeller pump, to suck out the oil.
‘A crowd had gathered by this time, and I was embarrassed to have to ask someone to close the tap’
Handy hairdryer
I knew I needed to start the engines as quickly as possible – always assuming the starters worked. I rushed to a nearby garage and bought five gallons of their cheapest oil. There was little point in buying good quality because I knew one oil change would not be enough to eliminate the water. I had plenty of spare filters.
I also bought a hairdryer in the hope of drying out some of the electrics.
The 4in diameter engine room blowers had not been submerged, so I switched these on to start a fast airflow throughout the whole machinery bay, venting out the stern.
By now it was late evening and the equipment was not the only thing completely drained. I simply couldn’t face trying to start the engines, so I had a few beers and went to bed. I didn’t sleep well.
About 6am, I began refilling the diesel engines and transmission with new oil. I drained them once more, then refilled them again with new oil and filters. By this time both engines had had 24 hours to drain any water into their pans. I used the hairdryer to warm up the starter motor, and it was now time to bite the bullet. I said a little prayer as I pressed the starter switch... and the trusty old Perky burst into life immediately. Wow!
Before trying to start the Kubota diesel, I disconnected the electrics in the generator control box. This prevented the generator making electricity, yet allowed the rotor to spin and clear any water inside – assuming the engine started. I treated it the same as the other starter, I pressed the ‘go’ button and it turned over sluggishly, then fired. Yippee!
How on earth these two starters worked, having been completely submerged, I have no idea, but I was not complaining.
I knew it would be beneficial if I could get some dry air into the equipment bay, so the next items were the two air conditioners. The 120V pump, which pumps seawater through the AC units, is an open windings type motor, so I used the hairdryer to blow hot air into it for 10 minutes. The actual AC units are mounted high and were not flooded. As I started one air conditioner, I heard the pump kick-in and a quick inspection outside told me that water was being pumped through both units. Another lucky break!
Everything else needed individual inspection, so I decided to start forward and work aft. This began with the electric pump for the deck wash. It had been submerged and refused to start. However, that was a low priority for the moment. Later I dismantled it and cleaned the commutator and brushes. It then came straight to life and pumped seawater through the deck gland, as though nothing had happened.
The dedicated windlass battery had not
been totally submerged, and the windlass worked fine. Some spare mooring ropes, stowed below, were totally saturated and were dragged on deck, where the Florida sun soon dried them out.
The water pressure pump also started up, drawing water from the two tanks to pressurise the system. I immediately spotted the reason for the flooding – a pipe had blown out of its connector. These were compression fittings held together with a screw-on plastic cap. I repaired the joint and the system pressurised normally from the pump. That old system had to go, pronto!
My efforts took two full days, but after a third oil change in the machinery, and with all other systems running again, I felt I had it all back to normal, after a very, very close call.
I don’t know how many years this episode has reduced my life by, but the question now was, how do I prevent it happening again? There was no guarantee against another pipe failure, or me forgetting to switch off the shore water again – although I think this highly unlikely, after what I’d been through!
Solutions to a problem
The obvious thing, suggested by several well-meaning sailors, was not to use a shore water supply at all and draw from the tanks, refilling them as needed. This would definitely prevent a recurrence, but the same might be said about a shore electrical connection, which everyone uses without a second thought for battery charging etc, but which has been the cause of many a boat fire.
My wife and I very much liked all the advantages of a shore water supply when we came to stay on the boat for weekends. So it was just a question of how to make it as fail-safe, and as idiot-proof as possible. The first obvious thing was to re-plumb the whole boat, with new pipes and modern connectors.
I found a suitable system at my local hardware store. I bought two 100ft coils of ½in 160-PSI PEX Pipe, one coil red for hot water, the other blue for cold.
I pulled this new piping throughout the boat by taping it securely to the old pipes and hauling it through. I also re-routed much of it more directly, so I could inspect it easily and get to the connections. I then bought numerous connectors which I thought I might need; elbows, tees, splices, etc which are guaranteed up to 100psi not to leak or blow out of the pipe. They’re also easy to connect without
Without doubt, if I’d not returned and caught it when I did, the boat would have eventually gone down’
special tools. The pipe is simply pushed into the connector and automatically locked by a barbed ring clamp and sealed with an internal O-ring.
It took four days to completely re-pipe the whole system, and I was quite pleased with the installation, looking very professional with twin colours side by side and nice new connectors.
Now I had to decide how the water supply could be shut off automatically in the event of another failure, even though it was now less likely.
I found an automatic shut-off valve on the internet. It’s a 12V solenoid valve which is normally open by default but closes when voltage is applied. I connected it into the water pipe, directly after the pressure inlet, and wired it to the boat bilge float. When the float is activated by rising water, the valve closes and stops any more shore water entering.
I thought this was all I needed, but I found that when the bilge float switched itself off, the power to the solenoid switched off as well, and the water valve opened itself, allowing pressurised water to flow in again, and the cycle would repeat continuously.
After consultation with an electrician friend, I bought what is called a ‘latching relay,’ and installed it into the wiring circuit. This is a 12V relay which, when the primary current switches off, the relay stays closed, keeping power to the valve and keeping it closed. The relay returns to the default, open only when current is switched off at the breaker.
I also incorporated a bell, which rings when the system is activated. In other words, I had now also built a high-water bilge alarm. Just by way of a secondary safety shut-off valve, I fitted a small on-off ball valve on the boat-end of the hosepipe, so I can also physically shut off the water from the shore.
This system has worked flawlessly so far, but I still disconnect the pipe at the shore tap when leaving the boat.
Later I made a rough estimate of how much water had flooded into the boat. It was quite a complicated geometric volume calculation but was certainly an eye-opener.
I estimated that some 700 gallons had been pumped into the boat. One gallon of water weighs 10lb, so the total weight of water was just over three tons. No wonder the old gal went down so far!
Seeing your boat full of water is frightening, even if you are tied to a dock. Without doubt, if I’d not returned and caught it when I did, the boat would have eventually gone down. The dockmaster later told me he‘d seen two boats sink this way.
Feeling quite satisfied with myself by installing my fail-safe system, I decided to find out how many boats used shore water supply in the marina. Out of a total of 20 boats which I could see with direct shore-water hoses connected, I spoke to the owners of 12.
I asked if they had any safety system, in case of an internal pipe failure while they were away from their boat. Amazingly absolutely none did and had not even thought about it.
They all said they relied on remembering to switch the water off when they left... just like I used to!
‘I estimated that some 700 gallons had been pumped into the boat. No wonder the old gal went down so far’