Closing the sea cocks

[RobnBern]

Hello Everyone,

while at the dock working on the boat, my buddy, with WAY more boating experience than me, suggested closing the sea cocks when I leave the marina. He rationale is simple, if ya' blow a hose and the sea cock is open, the boat will swallow all the water on the east coast!! I really hadn't put too much thought into it until a boat at a neighboring marina began to list over to port and suddenly capsized. The owner was out of town on business.

Our boat is about 40 miles from our house, so there's no quick way to get there in the event of emergency. I was thinking that IF I closed the main cocks, I'd hang signs on the ignition switches "SEA COCK CLOSED".

Thoughts?? Experience?? It's been a wild 2 weeks on the Occoquan....1 boat fire, 1 boat sinking and 1 drowning...WOW

Be safe....

 

[Quint4]

You will get different opinions on this. It is best to close them.....I don't.

 

[AKBASSKING]

Close them for these reasons:

1. Preventive action incase you blow a hose (Your friend is right)

2. Added benefit is you "exercise" the valve and thus will not stick on you.

3. In the case of emergency, you are familiar where they are and how to close them.

just my $0.02

 

[La Maddalena]

I'm always interested in learning as much as I can about maintaining and caring for our boat. Question: if I understand this issue correctly, some are saying while you are away from the boat and it is docked unattended at the marina, you "may blow a hose" and the boat could sink if the sea cocks aren't closed. How would you blow a hose with the boat just sitting there?

 

[fwebster]

Well, you wouldn't "blow" a hose, but one can crack and leak water into the bilges. Suprisingly, this is more prevalent on the wire reinforced hoses from the intake to the seawater pump, probably becasue there are a number of tight bends.

I don't think there is one correct answer to the original question. You must consider your storage environment and whether or not someone will be doing repairs or service on your boat in your absence. For example, our marina is owned by the local Sea Ray dealer. They have 24 hour security, yard guys around all day, the dockmaster walks the docks several times a day and there are sales folks in the marina all the time. There isn't much chance a high water alarm or a frequent bilge pump cycling is going to go un-noticed.

The marina specifically asks that you not close sea cocks because their technicians are on the boats doing repairs or service every day. It isn't about their not wanting to fool with opening seacocks, but their concern is burning up a customer's engine by accident.

 

[Turtlesboat]

I run my AC while I'm not there. I'm more concerned about the AC hoses than the engine hoses. So I inspect them every week and hope for the best.

 

[FYN409]

I go back and forth on this one also. I see pro's and cons to each. The other thought..... this is why you carry insurance on your boat. It's easy to worry about all of the "what-if's" that could happen while away. To me keep up on your maintenance so things do not get neglected, and then don't worry about it. Even the newest hose, or hose clamp, ect could cause an issue.

My $.02....

-Ryan

 

[tobnpr]

Every once in a while this subject comes up, and as was said there's no right or wrong answer.

I'm confident that frequent inspections of all hoses, clamps and fittings mostly negates any possibility of such a failure. A hose doesn't just fail, it fails because it's deteriorated.
This is also the reason for double-clamping all hose connections below the waterline, using quality stainless clamps, and replacing them whenever surface rust is present.

This is kinda like towing my pwc's... I have a ball valve inline to shut off the cooling water. If I forget to close it before towing, I'll fill the heads with water. If I forget to open it before running the engine, I'll blow it up. With this, there is no choice, but I still dread the possibility of forgetting one way or the other. The signs on the ignition keys are a good idea- but not 100% foolproof. I have enough trouble remembering what I had for dinner last night, so I leave mine open all the time.

I also agree with Frank that location plays a big role. If my boat were out on a mooring or an isolated dock I'd keep them closed.

 

[Gofirstclass]

I never closed them on my 330, and probably won't on the new 550. Part of the reason is that when I come off the water on a day when it's 100 degrees outside and I'm tired and a bit cranky, the last thing I want to do is force my aging, oversize body down into a bilge between two hot diesel engines to close off seacocks.

If I were planning on being away from the boat for a few weeks, I probably would do that.

 

[TMK988]

I feel like this is a stupid question but... why would you leave the seacock open? I think I am asking what are they for. My mechanic told me that on my '06 290DA I only have a seacock for my AC, which I don't use so I have it closed.

 

[Quint4]

I have one for the generator, head, and A/C (three total).

 

[kg4vgh]

TMK no such thing as a stupid question.....Seacocks have various uses....but all let outside water into the boat for one reason or another....the seacock is a valve...nothing more.....around here....you should close the valves peridocally, to insure that they will close.....and didn't get fouled by marine life.....I have a seacock on both engines, risers and manifold are sea water cooled, one on the genney and one on the AC.....
hope that helps......and I keep mine open year round....but work them monthly, to insure closure...
Cheers

 

[chumbley]

Mine are never closed (except for maintenance). Just try getting to the seacocks on a 2000 340DA with V drives when the engines are hot. Not fun.

 

[HUMPH]

Mine are never closed (except for maintenance). Just try getting to the seacocks on a 2000 340DA with V drives when the engines are hot. Not fun.

If you think that's bad, try getting to all of them in a 320! If they were more readily accessible I would consider closing them but I agree that in a busy marina there is little way the bilge pump or alarms not to mention listing would go unnoticed.

 

[douglee25]

I close mine most of the time. Occasionally I'll forget or I'll plan on coming back to the boat later in the day, only to have plans change and I end up somewhere else. If the seacocks are easy enough to get to, I see no reason not to close them for safe measure. For those that can't easily reach the handle, try using a boat hook from above.

Doug

 

[Cincy Aquaholic]

If the seacocks are easy enough to get to, I see no reason not to close them for safe measure. ]

Doug

I leave my HVAC in dehumidify mode when not at the boat so closing that one is not an option. I don't bother going down there to close the one for the generator. Only time I close them them is when I'm cleaning my strainers which is every couple weeks or when I pull it out on the trailer. My thinking is that I'd like to keep the water from back flushing out from the AC system and causing a primer issue. Doubt that would happen but who knows.:huh:

 

[SR400DB]

Personally, I close mine (all of them) mainly due to the fact that my boat is rarely close to home. Currently I keep my boat at a small marina with some activity, but nothing like what Frank's marina has. Based on the quiet marina and my inablity to check on the boat more than once a week, they are closed. I have had my boat many more miles away in Mexico, So Cal, Oregon and so on and developed a habit of closing everything for my peace of mind due to the long distance.