Boat Yard Service Desk
Have you got a problem with your boat you just can’t seem to fix? Let us know about it. Send an e-mail to inbox@pmymag.com and our resident expert on all things nautical, Capt. Bill Pike, will try his best to help you out. We have a three-year-old Sea Ray 390 Sundancer that we cruise around Puget Sound and beyond. We don’t use the boat as much as we like, but when we do use it, we avoid using the shower! I’m not sure what it is, but an epic odor flows out of our freshwater system, which causes anyone in the vicinity to run for the companionway door while holding their breath. We have flushed the system numerous times. Capt. Bill, do you have any suggestions on how to treat this odor once and for all? People have actually said my wife and I smell after taking a shower onboard.
— Rick Bermingham Anacortes, Washington Given the Pacific Northwestern climate that you do your boating in, I’m guessing the rotten-egg smell you describe arises when you use hot water, not cold. If this is the case (and I’m betting it is), there’s a good chance that the zinc anode in your water heater has withered away to zip due to galvanic corrosion. The smell you notice comes from an evil, somewhat complicated chemistry that the zinc tends to nix. Here’s what you do. Check out the manual that came with your water heater, or download one from the Web. Inside will be instructions on how to remove what remains of your old anode—the thing will most likely be rod-like and about a foot long— and then simply install a new one. Flush your system with fresh water afterwards and the smell should disappear. Just remember, there are a variety of anodes on the market for water heaters these days. Zinc works on rotten-egg smell, magnesium and aluminum not so much.
— Capt. Bill Pike I own a Mainship 34 Pilot and I recently operated the boat while my single Yanmar’s seacock was closed. I caught the mistake early—as soon as I noticed I had no cooling water coming out. But the goof trashed the impeller. What now? — Tom Franks Destin, Florida I’ve made similar goofs, I’m sad to say. So I know that the task of removing chunks of rubber that used to be part of an impeller can be challenging, often requiring the discombobulation of the whole freshwater cooling system. To do a good job then, I’d suggest you remove everything—meaning heat exchangers and all the associated interconnecting pipes and hoses— between the pump and the exhaust elbow. Then either flush with fresh water or, better yet, use a Shop-Vac to vacuum all the rubber fragments free. And before you go skewering away with welding rods or firearm-cleaning paraphernalia to absolutely clear the exchangers, hit a radiator shop. It’s unlikely the folks there’ll do any damage to internal components.
— Capt. Bill Pike