I’m in Charleston today, visiting with David Sidbury, owner of the second Nordhavn 68. Later today we’ll be on his boat, and I’m sure I’ll have much to comment on afterwards (and, some great pictures!)
At dinner last night, our #1 topic was the problems associated with warm water. My boat is sitting in Costa Rica in 89 degree water, and David’s here in Charleston in 90 degree water. Crud grows faster than you can imagine in water this warm. If you are running the air conditioning, then sea water is coming into the boat to cool the chilling system. This water enters through a thru-hull, goes through a strainer, into the sea chest, then to where it is needed for cooling, and then finally tossed back overboard. The hose from the thru-hull to the strainer, the basket in the strainer, and the sea chest, can all become grungy in days.
When we were in Costa Rica, the mechanic in the port mentioned that he had a great business just cleaning out the hoses and sea chests on the boats. Virtually every boat needed clean out every two weeks!
I still prefer warm water cruising, but I’m looking forward to my boat coming back to Seattle.
-Ken W
PS It will probably be a few days before I post any of the pictures or commentary from today. I catch a flight later today for Europe.
At dinner last night, our #1 topic was the problems associated with warm water. My boat is sitting in Costa Rica in 89 degree water, and David’s here in Charleston in 90 degree water. Crud grows faster than you can imagine in water this warm. If you are running the air conditioning, then sea water is coming into the boat to cool the chilling system. This water enters through a thru-hull, goes through a strainer, into the sea chest, then to where it is needed for cooling, and then finally tossed back overboard. The hose from the thru-hull to the strainer, the basket in the strainer, and the sea chest, can all become grungy in days.
When we were in Costa Rica, the mechanic in the port mentioned that he had a great business just cleaning out the hoses and sea chests on the boats. Virtually every boat needed clean out every two weeks!
I still prefer warm water cruising, but I’m looking forward to my boat coming back to Seattle.
-Ken W
PS It will probably be a few days before I post any of the pictures or commentary from today. I catch a flight later today for Europe.