New Holes in the Hull

Another Saturday, another day of maintenance

 

This Saturday was another productive session. Among other things we made a new fibreglass conduit to protect wiring in the bow, removed the old aluminium forestay groove, cut off the seized wind turbine and protected some more of the woodwork with epoxy.

The big job, however was the new hole in the hull.

Giulia's response on being sent this picture: "What the hell is that?!"

Let me explain...

We have two bilge pumps (for pumping water out of the boat) on board. One is mounted on deck, and the other inside by the chart table. When we bought Auriga these were plumbed together in a complicated manner. Each has a pipe running through a series of lockers in the boat just to they can join together and exit at the same point.

We decided this could be simplified by having two independent exit points, and situating them right next to the pumps. This would avoid pipes and plumbing running throughout the boat. To this end, we needed a new hole next to the chart table and plumbed directly into the pump. 

The new hole: top right, and the pump it
serves: bottom right, on the side of the seat

Drilling through the hull is a fairly committing move, and it is a little scary to see a hole cut in the side of your boat. The result was neat though, and the fibreglass structure around the hole looks sound.


Drilling the hull hole from Matthew Scott on Vimeo.

The new nylon hull fitting was coated in sikaflex and sealed in place snugly.

We are now waiting for the sealant to dry before re-plumbing the pipes and testing the new arrangement.
Next, we will build the chart table cupboard around the pipe and remove all the old plumbing.

Igor admiring the new hole