2003 Haul Out Tasks

Modifications Below the Water line

This page was originally created to document the work done during a winter haul out in 2002-2003. Since then I've added sections on follow up issues, principally having to deal with clogged sewage lines and modifications to the original work done in 2003. I also created a separate page on the replacement of the Raritan PH-II seawater flushing toilet with an Airhead composting toilet.
So now the principal sections of this page are:

2003 Haul Out Tasks. The original content of the page
2006 Head Clog. My first problem with the work done in 2003
2007 Head Clog. A second problem with the sewage lines, this one at sea
2008 LectraSan Removal. After installing a Composting Head I could finally remove the LectraSan and all of the sewage hoses on Sarah. This action uncovered new problems.
2008 Manifold Replacement. I finally had to replace the principal piece of work accomplished in 2003
2014 Manifold Clogged. After six years of continuous use I had to clean a lot of stuff out of the manifold that included silt, mussels and clams.
The Low Volume Manifold after 14 years.

2003 Haulout Tasks

The haul out over the winter of 2002-2003 was used to perform all of the below waterline projects necessary in preparation for departure on the Atlantic Circle cruise. In addition I took this opportunity to complete projects that I need to have complete before I moved on board in the fall of 2003.

This page will be used to record progress on this projects, which include the following:

Remove and plug unnecessary thru-hull fittings.
Survey and replace as necessary the propeller shaft and bearings.
Install Max Prop propeller.
Replace the propeller stuffing box.
Perform cosmetic upgrade to hull (waterline, cove strip, etc.)
Clean up the plumbing and wiring mess in the bilge

Thru-hull Fittings
When I took possession of Sarah she had an incredible number of thru-hull fittings. Since each thru-hull is a potential single point of failure that could sink this ship, I took it as a goal to reduce the number of thru-hulls to an absolute minimum. I discovered I could do little about the drain thru-hulls for each of the three sinks on board (galley, head, forward cabin). They rely on gravity to drain the sinks and therefore must be located as close as possible directly below the sink drain. Similarly, the above water line thru-hulls (deck and cockpit drains, refrigeration and air conditioner discharge) could not be effectively combined or eliminated. Therefore my primary targets were the intake thru-hulls (head, galley, refrigeration, air conditioner, deck wash down, engine, and generator). I inherited 6 sea cocks to serve all of these functions. My goal is to get them down to no more than three. My method for eliminating the thru-hulls is to combine the plumbing into several manifolds, each off a single sea cock.
Manfold For Frig, A/C, Galley and Head	I eliminated two of the seacocks in 2001 when I combined the air condition, refrigeration, galley, and head intakes onto one 1" seacock. This was accomplished by placing them on a single manifold located under the galley cabin sole, shown on the left. In 2003 I combined the engine and generator onto one 1 1/2" seacock. There was one unused seacock that I guess was originally used for the air conditioner or the head. It was plugged at one time, but was still installed. I removed that one as well.
That left three intake seacocks. I could eliminate the deck wash down thru-hull, which is currently located under the cabin sole in the forward cabin. However, that would require a long hose run from the manifold in the main cabin. I have discovered that hoses filled with sea water are a major source of foul odor on board. Therefore I'll keep that hose run short and leave the forward intake seacock alone.
Pictured on the right are the two thru-hulls that replaced the original four. The one on the left replaced the two 1" thru-hulls for the engine and generator seawater intakes that were next to each other. In the middle the original 1-1/2" waste discharge thru-hull has been sealed. The rightmost thu-hull replaced an unused 3/4" thru-hull that I guess was originally for the air conditioner. Now I have only two thru-hulls, both 1 1/2", where I once had four. The one on the left will now be the waste discharge. The one on the right will be the intake for both the engine and the generator. In addition to reducing the number of holes in the bottom of the boat (always a good thing), this reconfiguration will also help me clean up the plumbing mess on the interior of the boat.	Through-Hull Reconfiguration
Above Waterline Through-Hull for Frig Discharge	I also had the plastic thru-hull for the refrigerator discharge replaced with bronze. The installer of my SeaFrost refrigeration mentioned that this thru-hull needed to be replaced, and this was my first opportunity. I should have replace all of the other plastic thru-hulls as well, but I ran out of money and time. The plastic thru-hull on the left in the picture is the discharge for one of the deck scuppers.
While I had the yard replacing thru-hulls I had them also install the thru-hulls for the new depth sounder (right, below) and knotmeter (left, below). These are located under the cabin sole hatch in the forward cabin.
Knotmeter Through-Hull in Bow	Depth Sounder Through-Hull
On the right and below are pictures of the plumbing associated with the thru-hull changes depicted above. These are the views from above the aft cabin sole hatch. In the center of the hatch is the top of the 1-1/2" Groco Raw Water Strainer for the engine and generator. This is connected via water host to the 1-1/2" seacock accessed through the galley cabin sole hatch. Two 1" ball valves are connected to the output from the strainer. One (barely visible on the top of the picture on the right) provides sea water to the main engine. This valve is connected to the V-Drive by 1" water hose.	Plumbing For Through-Hull Changes
Plumbing For Through-Hull Changes	The other ball valve (upper center in the picture on the left) provides sea water to the generator in the cockpit Lazzarette hatch. The seacock visible just forward of the raw water strainer with the white hose is the overboard discharge for the head. The original seacock for this function was back up under the cabin sole, and very difficult operate, much less service.
Although I combined the two water systems into a single thru-hull, I can still run both the engine and the generator at the same time without either being starved of seawater cooling. The original separate systems were fed from two 1" thru hulls and hoses. However, the hoses were connected to hose barbs on the seacock and water pumps, which effectively reduces the delivery to two 7/8" services. That is a comined cross-sectional area of approximately 0.38π square inches. I replaced the two services with a single 1-1/2" service, which due to the hose barbs is effectively 1-1/4". That service then has a cross-sectional area of 0.39π square inches. So the single service should be able to supply the same water flow as the separate services. In fact, I have rarely run both the engine and the alternator at the same time. The only time (other than dockside testing) was when motoring in mid-ocean and I needed to operate an 120VAC power tool. I ran both engines for over an hour with no problems.
Although this looks like (and probably is) a plumber's nightmare, it has allowed me to eliminate one 1" thru-hull and replace two substandard seacocks. Although this is a very crowded area, access to the seacocks has been greatly improved over the arrangement I inherited.

Propeller
On the right is the 21x10 fixed blade propeller I inherited with the purchase of the boat. This will be replaced by a Max Prop feathering propeller that I expect to significantly reduce drag under sail.	Original 20x10 Propeller
Prop Shaft, Strut and Propeller	Cutless Bearing in the Shaft Strut
Above on the left is the propeller shaft. I replaced the strut bearing during this haul-out. The picture on the right of the strut bearing seems to show a slightly miss-aligned shaft in the strut. Not sure if this is a problem or not. I walked around the boat yard looking at other boats with shaft struts and none seemed to be any better aligned. This is another job I left to the yard.
Shaft Log	On the left is the outside of the pilot tube or shaft log where the shaft exits the hull. I was expecting to see a Cutless bearing at this point, but clearly there is none. My previous boat had a Cutless bearing at the end of the pilot tube, but it did not have a strut bearing, so it appears you don't need both. This was confirmed by my walk through the boat yard, as none of the other boats with strut supported propeller shafts appeared to have a Cutless bearing at the end of the pilot tube. It makes sense as it would be very difficult to get both bearings aligned with each other..
Maxprop
On the right and below are pictures of the 20" MaxProp installed with a new Cutless bearing in the strut.	Maxprop and Cutless Bearing

On April 12 I moved Sarah from Zahniser's back to her berth at the Town Creek Landing marina. I was extremely pleased with the control I had maneuvering Sarah out of the slip in Zahniser's and docking her in Town Creek. The next step is to see what benefit I get in light air sailing.

Stuffing Box
PSS Shaft Seal	I replaced the original stuffing box with a PSS Shaft Seal.On the left is a very indistinct picture of the installed shaft seal. You can just see the bellows of the seal mostly obscured by the V-Drive.

Hull Cosmetics
Below are pictures of Sarah shortly after she was hauled and blocked up. I would like to have the entire hull Awlgripped dark blue, but that is beyond currently what I can budget. Therefore my ambitions for the hull have been reduced to a thorough compounding and waxing of the hull, and having the boot and waterline stripes re-painted.
Sarah Hauled for the Winter at Zahniser's Yachting Center	Spars Were Also Unstepped
Boot Strip Was Repainted Over the Winter

Sarah and Zahniser's Office	Above and on the left, Sarah is nearly ready to launch. I compounded and waxed the hull. It could have used at least one more coat of wax, but I'm out of time and my arms won't take another trip around the boat with the buffer. You might have noticed that Zahniser's moved Sarah from where she was stored for most of the winter. They say they did that so they could launch the boats that were behind Sarah. I believe they just wanted to get me closer to the office and the cash register (see right). Now all they have to do is look out the window and - KA-CHING.
Sarah was launched during the week of March 24, but I was unable to bring her back to Town Creek until this past weekend (April 12). She is back at the dock and I can now continue my projects. I don't expect to put the sticks back in until after the first of June.	Sarah, Sans Rigging

Bilge Mess
Deep Bilge Sump on Sarah	The bilge sump on the Pearson 424s is immense. The entire aft portion of the keel is hollow and provides a nearly 5' deep sump. I would like to figure out a way to use this space efficiently. It would be a great place for heavy equipment (e.g., batteries, tanks, anchor storage, etc.). Before I even contemplate any of these uses, I have to clean up the mess of plumbing and electrical wiring that currently exists in this space. I especially need to address the bilge odor the emanates from this place.
Cleaning up this mess involved removing virtually all of the seawater plumbing in the boat. On the right is the Raritan LectraSan sewage treatment tank. This was installed under the saloon cabin sole I was tempted to replace this unit with a holding tank because I thought it was the source of bilge odors that have plagued this boat since I purchased her. As it turned out the LectraSan, although certainly an odor source, was not the source of the odors that I needed to fix.	Raritan LectraSan Sewage Treament System
I believe those odors are coming from the extended length of sewage hose that was under the cabin sole. This hose was installed with large loops that extended down into Sarah's deep bilge in order to maintain alignment with the Y-Valve. I believe standing sewage and seawater in these hoses are the primary sources of a great deal of the odors. Therefore I have decided to re-install the LectraSan as I don't need take on a project of installing a holding tank. Yes, those are wine corks under the LectraSan. This was a planter next to the picnic area at the Town Creek Landing Marina. A number of years ago the owners erected a gazebo cover over the picnic area which put the planter in the shade for most of the day making it a non-functional planter. Most of the boat owners at the marina are wine drinkers (some would say wine inhalers) and one of the marina owners challenged us to fill the planter with wine corks. It was a nasty job, but we did it in less than a year. Unfortunately several winter storms over the past years have depleted the cork supply in the planter. Looks like we will have to get to work again.
Modifying the Low Volume Seawater Manifold	I removed and modified the low volume manifold installed in 2001. This manifold services the head intake, the galley seawater faucet, the refrigeration and the air conditioner from one 1" seacock. I originally installed the raw water strainer in the cabin sole hatch over the V-Drive.
When I added the high volume manifold to service the engine and generator in that space I had to move this strainer to the area under the cabin sole in the galley. Shown right and below is the new arrangement with the raw water strainer combined with the manifold. The installation also involves relocating the electric pumps for the refrigeration and air conditioner.	Low Volume Seawater Manifold and Strainer
Modifying the Low Volume Seawater Manifold	The installation of this manifold required a lot of modifications to the previous approach. Above is a picture of the manifold attached to the support boards. These boards are through-bolted to the cabin sole hatch frame. I used #10 SS T-Nuts to secure the machine screws through bolts. T-Nuts are an expensive, but essential solution to providing a through bolt installation when the backside of the installation is difficult to get to or nearly inaccessible.
On the right and below I have temporarily set the manifold in place in the cabin sole hatch. I have a macerator pump on order for the shower drain and plan to install it in the space just forward of the manifold. The pump will be difficult to install with the manifold in place, so permanent installation must wait on the pump order. I originally secured the valve portion of the manifold to the support board with U-bolts. However, I discovered it was necessary to install the support boards first then attach the manifold.	Manifold Mounted in Cabin Sole Hatch
With the boards in place is was impossible (or nearly so) to secure the U-bolts with nuts and washers on the back side of the board. So I discarded the U-bolt approach and secured the manifold to this support board with hose clamps that were screwed into the board. This is not as secure as the U-bolt configuration, but still strong enough to take the force of opening and closing the valves.
The two centrifugal pumps visible in the pictures below are for the refrigeration and air conditioner. They will be installed on the shelf just aft of the LectraSan.
Low Volume Seawater Manifold	Manifold and Pumps for Frig and A/C
Bilge Pump On Sarah	On the left and below are pictures of my re-installation of the bilge pump on Sarah. The extreme (>4') depth of the bilge sump on Sarah makes the bilge pump installation more complex than on most boats. I inherited and adapted the existing installation of a bilge pump and float switch installed on the end of a wooden stock, which you can just barely see in the picture on the left. I replaced all components, float switch, pump and wooden stock, but kept the basic design. Below is the pump arrangement prior to installation.
On the right and below are pictures of the pump and the switch connected together with hose clamps. The inaccessibility of the pump once installed motivated me to test the pump and switch before I started the installation. The test bed is shown below, right. I filled the tub with water and hooked the pump electrical wires to my car battery. My original arrangement used a much larger pump. Testing proved that the impeller on the larger pump was broken. So I have substituted a smaller pump until I get the larger pump repaired or replaced. Without prior testing I would have completed the installation not knowing that the pump was not operational. Testing would have required filling the bilge sump with water and then discovering I would have to pump out the water with the manual pump in the cockpit.	Bilge Pump On A Stick
Bilge Pump and Switch	Pump and Switch Mounted on the Stick
Testing the Pump Before Installation	The Tools of Ignorance, AKA Plumber's Hands
Plumbing Reconnected	Finally I have completed the re-plumbing of the bilge area. After initially assembling the revised head plumbing I was plagued with leaks from a number of the hose connections. In trying to clean up the head hose arrangement I used 90 degree elbows on each hose connected to the Y-valve (shown on the right). I realized I was generating potential congestion points in the system, but felt the significant reduction in physical hose lengths and the associated hose loops would reduce the amount of odor in the bilge.
I was totally bummed when it looked like I had introduced a blockage into the system with the resultant back pressure causing the leaks. I worked on this problem for the next two weekends with limited success. I completely dis-assembled the connections twice looking for blockage or some source of the back pressure. This past weekend (June 14) I enlisted the help of a friend who convinced me that leaks are not the result of back pressure, but the result of poor seals at the hose connections. By this time I was down to one leaking connection which I believed I had previously tightened. I had apparently forgotten to tighten the hose clamps on this connection it was loose.. We tightened those clamps and no more leaks.	Y-Valve For the Head Discharge
I had spent nearly a month of weekends chasing a non-existent back pressure problem when the only problem I had was one of tightly sealing the connections. My friend also showed me how the common white sanitation hose we all use is very difficult to seal with just hose clamp pressure. It is more effective to slightly soften the hose end with a heat gun and then push it over the hose barb and clamp it. The softened hose will conform to irregularities in the barb in a way the cold hose will not no matter how much pressure is applied with the clamps. Turns out the back pressure I was so concerned about is the normal pressure exerted by the 4' lift to the top of the anti-syphon loop and nothing to be concerned about. The head appears to be working perfectly with no leaks.

2006 Head Clog
With a number of right angle elbows and Ts in the head plumbing I was very aware of the possibility of the output lines becoming clogged. In particular I was concerned about the build up of calcium at each of the congestion points, further restricting the water flow and possibly resulting in a blockage. Because of this concern I routinely flushed the system with vinegar and left it for a week to dissolve any deposits on the inside of the hoses and fittings. When I moved on board Sarah in the winter of 2003/2004 I discontinued the flushing because it was inconvenient and I thought unnecessary. I felt with constant daily use calcium buildup would be prevented as I believed the water would not be stationary long enough to precipitate out the calcium.
I appeared to be correct for nearly 3 years, then in July, 2006 while cruising the Spanish island of Mallorca in the Mediterranean Sea the head became clogged. I discovered that calcium had built up in the hoses and fittings in spite of the continuous use. One piece of calcium had broken loose and was logged at the intake to the Y-Valve that directs the sewage either straight overboard or to the LectraSan for treatment. Toilet paper had collected on this piece of calcium and eventually the hose became clogged.	Clogged Y-Valve
Removing the blockage was fairly unpleasant, but not difficult. However I could not remove very much of the calcium deposits on the inside of the hoses and fittings. This calcium has effectively reduced the inside diameter of the sewage hoses from 1-1/2" to about 3/4". Cleaning all of the deposits out of the hoses or replacing them will take several days. So I continued to cruise Sarah on the Med with the restricted flow through the hoses. I plan to disassemble the entire system over the winter of 2006/2007 and restore the full water flow.
2007 Head Clog
When sailing back to the USA at the end of Sarah's Atlantic Circle the head once more clogged. This time we were at sea about 5 days out of Bermuda enroute to the Chesapeake Bay. As unpleasant as clearing the clog was the previous year, at least then I was in a marina. Words cannot describe how unpleasant it was to get the head back in working order while underway. I have resolved that this will be the last head clog I will experience on Sarah. In December, 2007 I ordered an Airhead composting head. It was delivered in March, 2008. Once it was installed all of the sewage hoses on Sarah, including the LectraSan, were removed (see below). Details on the Airhead and the installation on Sarah are described on a separate page that can be found in the Equipment Upgrades menu at the top left of this page or by clicking here.
2008 LectraSan Removal
Low Volume Seawater Manifold, Upside Down on the Dock	After the Airheadhad been in use for a month I decided it was time to remove all of the components of the old Raritan PHII head. This included the LectraSan and its electric circuits and the sewage hoses. In order to remove the LectraSan I first had to remove all of the pumps located just aft of the LectraSan. At the same time I decided to remove the low volume seawater manifold that fed all of those pumps, including the now removed PHII head. I could have removed the LectraSan without dismantling the manifold, but it would have required jockeying the LectraSan a bit. In the process of removing the manifold I discovered several components had deteriorated significantly.
While removing the hoses from the manifold valves to the pumps I broke off the hose barb on the valve for the refrigerator pump. This was a brass hose barb. When I put this manifold together I used several brass components because they were not available at the local marine or hardware stores in bronze. The brass components included another 1/2" hose barb and eight nipples that connected the T's and the valves.	Broken Hose Barbs
Corroded Ball Valve	It is clear in the picture on the left that this valve has deteriorated somewhat in the last 5 years of almost continuous use. I had used the relatively cheap Apollo valves instead of the more expensive Groco valves.
I knew that the raw water strainer bowl had become contaminated and needed cleaning. It had started to pickup barnacles while I was in Florida preparing to depart for Europe in 2005. I thought I had that under control by periodically inserting a pool tablet in the strainer basket. That did appear to kill the barnacles, you can see the marks they left on the surface to strainer bowl in the picture on the right. What I wasn't expecting was the amount of sludge in the bottom of the bowl.	Barnacle Marks On Raw Water Strainer Bowl
I knew the water in the bowl was murky from the times I cleaned the basket, but I thought that was just the remains of the dead barnacles. If I'd had access to a wet vacuum I would have pump out the bowl and discovered the bowl was nearly 1/4 full of sludge. I could have drained the bowl by removing the plastic drain plug, but I was paranoid about dropping the plug into the bilge and not being able to retrieve it. So I left the plug alone.
Ball Valve for PHII Toilet	So now I have to rebuild this manifold. First I have to take it apart and determine which components are salvageable and which must be replaced. I no longer need the valve that previously served the PHII toilet (the one on the "T" next to the strainer bowl in the picture on the left), but I will keep that port on the manifold as I'm considering the installation of a water-maker and that valve (or its replacement) can be used for that purpose.
New Manifold
I took over a week to build and install the replacement manifold. It seemed every assumption I made about hose sizes and pumps was wrong. How could that be? I designed and built the manifold I was replacing. Part of the problems was that I installed this manifold in 2003 and then basically forgot about it. I didn't document how I put it together and I just assumed it would last for the duration of my ownership of Sarah.	Re-built Low Volume Seawater Manifold
In addition to the deterioration of the manifold hardware I also created some problems for myself when removing the hardware and pumps. Not only did I break the hose barb on the manifold (see above) I also broke off the hose connection on the pump output to the A/C. So in addition to replacing the manifold I also had to replace one of the pumps.
March Pumps For Frig and Air Conditioner	Fortunately I had a spare March 3CP magnetic drive pump in my spare parts bin. The real problem was when removing the pumps and manifold I thought I knew exactly which hoses were for which system. This turned out to be a major mistake, and it caused me repeated trips to WM and Loews for plumbing adapters. In this picture you can see that I replaced all of the ball valves with those made by Groco. Hopefully they will last longer than the Apollo valves.
Finally on Wednesday, July 9 I was able to get everything back together. The frig is now back in operation. I tested the A/C and was surprised it worked better than before - much fewer cycling of the compressor. This turned out to be a false impression, and the A/C plumbing required more work. I found that the manual galley seawater pump was frozen. Nothing to do with my re-installation - I believe it seized due to lack of use. I wanted to replace it anyway so a new pump is on order. I also ordered backup magnetic drive pumps for both the frig and A/C. Anyway, after nearly two weeks with no frig or A/C these systems are finally working. The real lesson learned is that I need to take these system apart if not annually, at least every couple of years to clean and refurbish them.
After a few days of operation I discovered the A/C water pump was not up to the job. It could not deliver sufficient water to the A/C and the A/C repeatedly shut down. I replaced that pump with the one I had just ordered as a backup and full water flow appeared to have been restored. Appearances are deceiving. After a few hours of operation the A/C shut down again. Now I had the problem of an airlock. I disconnected the 1/2" output hose from the pump and allowed solid water to flow out of the pump to insure it was flooded. Then I reconnected the output hose and turned on the A/C. The pump and compressor came on and ran for 30 - 45 minutes until the cabin temperature reached the thermostat setting. Then the A/C compressor cycled off as normal and turned off the pump. About 5 minutes later the compressor cycled back on, but the pump was not pushing any water. Within a minute the A/C shut down because of the lack of water flow through the condenser. I fought this problem for several days, tightening hose clamps and fittings. I had tried two different pumps of the same model on this application and neither provided sufficient water flow for the A/C. I was considering taking the whole manifold apart and re-configuring it for more direct connection to this pump. Before I did that I decided to replace the A/C pump with the backup pump I purchased for my refrigeration. The A/C pump is a March LC-3CP-MD and the frig pump is a March LC-2CP-MD. The A/C pump (3CP) is rated at 490 GPH for a 3' head, while the frig pump (2CP) is rated at 260 GPH for the same head. The A/C system requires only 120 GPH so the 2CP should be more than adequate. I only bought the 3CP because that is what everyone seems to spec for A/C units. Hooking up the 2CP required several more trips to WM for pipe and hose adapters as the ports on the 2CP are smaller than those on the 3CP. Finally I had the frig pump hooked up to the A/C and wonder of wonders it works! The A/C cycles off, but now when it cycles back on the pump is delivering a steady stream of water. The water flow out the through hull is significantly greater than what I achieved with the 3CP pump (before it air locked).
Schematic of the Low Volume Seawater Manifold
I sent the newly purchased 3CP pump back to DEPCO for warranty service expecting to get a new or repaired pump in return. I was very disappointed by the call back from DEPCO when they told me the problem was the marelon right angle street elbow I had installed on the output of the pump. DEPCO maintained that the seat on the street elbow was too deep for the pump fitting and had impinged on the pump impeller, eventually breaking some of the plastic fittings in the pump. I was very skeptical of this analysis, but had little choice but to pay for a new face plate on the pump. When I received the repaired pump and the broken parts from DEPCO I could see they were correct. The Marelon street elbow has and extension beyond the pipe thread. The fitting on the pump was designed for standard pipe thread. That is the reason the 2CP worked in place of the 3CP. Because of the smaller pipe thread on the output of the 2CP I had to use a standard bronze street elbow that does not have an extension beyond the thread. So the problem with both pumps was the hose barb fitting I had chosen. Now I have lots of spare pumps.
Adding More Water Flow Capacity to the Low Volume Manifold
The Low Volume Manifold that I originally installed in 2003 and rebuilt in 2007 has served me well. The 1" ID intake provides sufficient water flow to support the SeaFrost SA-II refrigerator and the Air Conditioner as well as the sea water pump in the galley. I believe it would also provide sufficient water delivery for an average water maker should I install one. That believe is based on the assumption that I would never run the A/C and the Water Maker at the same time. So the Water Maker would only compete with the frig for the available water flow from the 1" thru-hull. Of course the Water Maker manufacturers all claim that their product must have a dedicated thru-hull intake. That makes no sense if the water intake flow is sufficent to satisfy all of the demands with a significant safety margin. If I ever do install a Water Maker it will be connected to the first valve on the manifold (the one previously used to deliver sea water to the flush toilet), so if there is any water delivery issue on the manifold it will be the frig that will be starved for water not the Water Maker. I think I understand why the Water Maker manufacturers demand a dedicated thru-hull - to avoid warranty and customer satisfaction issues from an improperly designed manifold. Although I believe my manifold would accommodate any Water Maker that required a 3/4" intake or less I also would not want to have to argue my way through a warranty issue if the manufacturer insists that anything other than a dedicated thru-hull will void the warranty. So I started to look at how I could modify my manifold to eliminate that issue.
The first issue I believe I needed to deal with is that although my thru-hull and ball-valve provide full 1" flow, the first thing the water hits after the valve is 1" hose barb. The hose barb immediately reduces the ID of the delivery pipe to about 3/4" ID. If the Water Maker specifies a 3/4" delivery and uses a hose barb on the Water Maker intake, they are really specifying a 1/2"-5/8" delivery. So that 3/4" intake capacity should still be more than sufficient to provide 5/8" delivery to the Water Maker and 1/4" delivery to the frig. The combined demand of these two deliveries is approximately 0.45 "² while the 3/4" intake provides water flow through 0.56 "² . Still, maybe I should have a greater safety margin on this delivery. I became confinced that I should have a greater safety margin after spending the summer and fall at the BridgePointe Marina on the Trent River in New Bern, NC. I thought, when I took a berth at this marina, I was dealing with mostly freshwater. The river current does reverse with the tides, but very slightly. Mostly the current runs weak to strong down river to the Neuse and the ocean. I was then greatly surprised at how quickly the raw water strainer filled with debris and severely reduced the water flow through the manifold. I had to clear the strainer basket every 5-7 days to keep both the frigh and A/C running (it gets hot in NC). So although I wouldn't be running a Water Maker in these conditiions, it showed me that it didn't take much to reduce that 3/4" effective flow to less than 1/4". So I decided I needed to modify the Low Volume Manifold to insure I could maintain the necessary water flow to support both a Water Maker and the frig when anchored or under way and the frig and the A/C when in a marina.
When I installed the AirHead Composting Toilet in 2008 I freed up one 3/4" intake on the manifold, but I also freed up the 1-1/2" outake. The simplest way to provide full 1" water flow to the manifold was to switch the manifold from the 1" intake to the 1-1/2" through-hull. I took advantage of the 2010 haulout at Deaton's Yacht Services in Oriental, NC to accomplish this change.
Plugged 1" Ball Valve Via Hatch in Galley Sole	During this haulout I also had Deaton's cut hatches in the cabin sole, one of which provided much better access to that old 1" through-hull. This was good thing as the hose barb on that ball valve was very resistant to being removed so that I could put a plug on the valve as shown in the picture on the left.
In fact I loosened the thru-hull when trying to free the hose barb and it had to be re-bedded before Sarah was re-launched. If I had attempted this while in the water I would likely have generated a major leak.
I removed the plug from the 1-1/2" valve and replaced it with a straight hose barb.	1-1/2" Ball Valve, Previously For Toilet Discharge
Low Volume Seawater Manifold Connected to 1-1/2" Through-Hull	Then I connected the Low Volume Manifold to the 1-1/2" thru-hull with sanitation hose using a reducing coupler.
Manifold Clogging
The rebuilt manifold worked with only minor problems (see SA3 Clogging) for the next six years. The clogging of the SA3 water hose should have been the tip-off that something bad was happening inside the manifold, but I ignored it until the SA3 shut down again shortly after returning to Florida from the Bahamas in May, 2014. Sarah has spent most of the last six years in rather stinky water. First a year on the Trent River in New Bern, NC and then three winters and a summer in the Ortega River in Jacksonville, FL. Both of those rivers are full of organic material and silt. Eventually enough of that material was deposited inside the manifold to cut down the water flow such that it would not support both the SA3 frig and the A/C. The result was the frig shutting down when theA/C kicked in. My first action was to flush the SA3 water hose and that produced a lot of black stuff out the thru-hull. However, this time the flush did not solve the problem. If I left the A/C turned off, the frig ran fine so I left the A/C off and just ran the frig through the manifold. I can't survive a Florida summer without A/C, so I bought a 5,000 BTU window unit and stuck it in the cockpit companionway. This allowed me to procrastinate fixing the problem until the 4th of July when the frig shut down as well.
The Manifold, Flushed and Re-Installed	I then removed the manifold and flushed it with the dock hose. A lot of crud came out including a few small mussels and clams. I really need to take the entire unit apart and clean it thoroughly. I also need to redesign it so I can flush it without de-installing it. All that will wait for a few months while I re-design the manifold. In the meantime it is back in place and the frig and the A/C are back in operation.
Low Volume Manifold After 14 years
By the summer of 2016 the Low Volume Manifold had been in use for over 14 years, 12 of those years in use by a full-time live aboard. For the first 5 years the manifold supplied seawater to the head, the galley sink, the refrigerator and the air conditioner. When I replaced the standard marine toilet with a composting toilet in 2008 I was able to eliminate that port on the manifold. For the last 2 years the galley seawater pump has been disconnected from the manifold to keep the hose from becoming foul with stagnant seawater. For all of this time the principal users of the manifold have been the refrigerator and the air conditioner, and of those two mostly the frig. Overall this system has been a complete sucess. Besides eliminating several thru-hull fittings it has provided excellent access to the seawater strainer for cleaning, and to the valves for the individual plumbing circuits for maintenance. The only problems I've encountered were the failure of the brass fittings used in the initial version, and clogging from crud in the water. The first problem was solved by replacing all brass components (primarily connecting nipples) with either bronze or nylon components. The clogging has been a more persistent problem. Initially the clogging was due to the ingestion of jelly fish (sea nettles on the Chesapeake) that became trapped in the delivery hose from the thru-hull, and in the strainer basket. This was not really a problem of the manifold as it would have happened with individual thru-hulls as well. That problem was solved by installing a grate on the outside of the thru-hull to stop jelly fish or any piece of debris from entering the system. The manifold simplified this solution as it allowed one external grate to protect four seawater systems on board. The manifold operated problem free from 2009 to 2014. In 2014 the manifold was delivering insufficient water for either the A/C or the frig (see above). I cleaned 6 years of crud out of the manifold and all seemed OK until the following year when water delivery again was a problem. I once again cleaned out the manifold, but there was not enough crud to explain the problem. Sure enough the frig shut down regularly until I discovered it was a problem of the silt in the water blocking the cooling lines in the water pump for the frig. I fixed the pump problem and everything was cool (literally) for another year. Then in the summer of 2016 I once again had a water delivery problem. This time there was no clogging in the manifold, it was in the delivery hose from the thru-hull to the strainer. The hose had been almost completely plugged with grass. This is a problem specific to the Ortega River in Jacksonville, FL where I've berthed Sarah for the past two years. Many other boats have had problems keeping A/C units running this year due to grass collecting in the hoses. The grass is very tenatious attaching itself to the walls of the plumbing. I found a lot of grass in the strainer basket, which took a lot of time to clean up, but there was no grass in the manifold. I had not checked the delivery hose because I couldn't believe that 1-1/2" ID hose could be clogged. However it was clogged to point where with the sea valve open and the hose disconnected from the strainer, only a small trickle of water came out of the hose. The hose was at least partially cleared using my dock hose, and full water delivery to the frig and A/C restored. Not all of the grass could be removed with water pressure, so the hose will need to be replaced before next summer, when the grass growth will likely resume. So although I've removed and cleaned the manifold several tims over the last 2 years, I believe only the first cleaning was necessary. The other two were caused by pump and delivery hose problems. In nearly 14 years I've had only two problems that I can associate with the manirold. Onc problem was fixed by not using anything but bronze or nylon fittings. The other requires removing and cleaning the manirold every 5 or 6 years. I can live with those solutions.