Winterization Lessons Learned

Engines, Drive trains, Propellers, Steering, Ground Tackle and other mechanical system
Post Reply
User avatar
GeoffSchultz
Posts: 1135
Joined: Thu Dec 04, 2008 8:39 am
Location: BlueJacket: Guatemala
Contact:

Winterization Lessons Learned

Post by GeoffSchultz »

You know that it's probably not a good thing when the phone rings at 8 AM and it's the boat yard calling...They had gone onto BlueJacket to check something and found the bilge full of diesel. I headed right down to the marina and found many gallons of diesel in the bilge. I pulled apart the aft cabin to gain access to the tank and was thrilled to see that it wasn't leaking.

After some more searching I found that the generator's Racor had started leaking and since it was below the top of the tank, it siphoned the diesel. I haven't determined what went wrong with the Racor as of yet as I was too busy cleaning. I had a drill pump and used that the suck out 12 gallons of diesel and then spent the rest of the day cleaning the bilge from the generator to the sump in mid-boat. I will say that the bilge hasn't been this clean in ages, but what a pain...

So, what I learned was that it's important to turn off both the fuel intake and return lines on the boat when storing it. I haven't been aboard in 3 weeks, so this happened some time in between. I'm happy that (1) the batteries were disconnected so that the bilge pumps didn't run and (2) that I utilize electronic bilge pump switches that won't turn on due to oil/diesel.

-- Geoff
BlueJacket
1997 Freedom 40/40
http://www.GeoffSchultz.org

Post Reply