Sometimes things come sooner than expected. Eventually, over time, salt water takes its toll. When cleaning up the seawater strainer we found that the thru-hull valve does not close completely. This does not normally cause any problem. However, it makes it impossible to fully winterize the boat. So, the choice is simple, haul now to replace the bad valve or keep the boat heated through the winter. Where is my Farmer's Almanac? Of course the cost of hauling the boat just to replace one sea valve is unfortunate. It makes more sense to do additional work at the same time. So we added to The Bottom work and refurbishing the Propeller.

When we removed the pipe fittings on a few sea-valves we were able to see the condition of the ball. Although they are all the same age there are differences in the amount of corrosion.

The through-hulls and backing plates were easier to remove than expected. Despite what the Ta Shing manual showed, 3M 5200 was not used. The insulation layer had to be trimmed back around the galley drain though hull. After being prepared for a new backing plate the foam layer was resealed using glass cloth and epoxy.

A total of nine through-hulls were removed; six sea-cocks, one ball-valve, and two instrument through-hulls. It's a messy job. However, because the work was being done by an obsessive compulsive, we went to the trouble of cleaning all the old hardware. It was an opportunity to take a look. While all but one sea-cock was serviceable, all are being replaced.

It took nearly a year for the hull to dry out before the new laminate could be added to the hull. Finally we are installing the new through-hulls, sea-cocks and the associated plumbing.