Lazy expensive mistake

I put off talking about this because I was ashamed and embarrassed , but I thought this might help a newbie here if he's thinking on saving a few bucks and you guys who Joy calls my "space buddies " will go easy on me .
During our last haulout for bottom job I had decided to rebed all the thru hulls myself so I told the yard not to worry with them . Joy and I replaced the worst looking one with new thru hull, valve and new backing plate . Then we removed the fish finder transducer and leveling blocks . The leveling blocks had a little worm damage . Then I had to go in the hospital for a heart procedure . After that I made some new leveling blocks and we reinstalled the transducer . I had two more thru hulls that I wanted to do but I just wasn't feeling up to it . They looked ok and knew I was racking up a pretty good size yard bill with some unexpected fiberglass work that had to be done . My budget was blown so I let it go , bad mistake . We launched the boat and sure enough those two were leaking . The boat was out for three months and the caulk had dried out . With the haul out and rebedding this added another $400.00 to the bill .

if at the end you healthy that the most important think...
same for me during the last 10 years mistake onboard cost me money!
But never 2 time

I live in a glass house so stone throwing is not my thing! At least now it's fixed.

I wouldn't worry about it Marty. Seems like it was a reasonable decision. In the boating world, $400 is small potatoes. I'd say you got by cheap!

Cheers to cheap lessons!

Kudos for hauling back out and fixing them. There're a lot of people who would simply go "whatever, I'll deal with it next time ". That's why boats sink, failing to address problems in a proactive manner.

Ted

Greetings,
Mr. PM. Mr. 101 hit the nail squarely on the head! "if at the end you healthy that the most important think..." Hell, man, it's $400 AND it's done. IF you hadn't spent that $$ on the boat who knows what sort of mischief you might have gotten into...

As a newbie I would not be able to throw ayou any stone as my learning curve is made of trial and error! I would just interested in knowing how many thru hull you have and what you did with them, and also what was your fiberglass work?
For the 400$ I would say don't worry too much, sounds silly but it is just money, you did not sink and more important you are doing well!

Hey Marty: Come-on Bro, let's face it. A 400 buck boat mistake isn't much of a mistake, at least compared to my average boat mistake. You're alive, William is afloat in the best condition ever....The beer is cold and the crawdads crisp!

If it makes you feel any better my insurance had me change out my originals last year. Apparently the original Wilcox Crittenden tapered ends are no longer supported. Yard did all 8 cost me 6K.

RT Firefly said:

Greetings,
Mr. PM. Mr. 101 hit the nail squarely on the head! "if at the end you healthy that the most important think..." Hell, man, it's $400 AND it's done. IF you hadn't spent that $$ on the boat who knows what sort of mischief you might have gotten into...

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I was thinking $4000 I looked to fast :roll eyes: for sure $400 in boating world that noting

Lou_tribal said:

As a newbie I would not be able to throw ayou any stone as my learning curve is made of trial and error! I would just interested in knowing how many thru hull you have and what you did with them, and also what was your fiberglass work?
For the 400$ I would say don't worry too much, sounds silly but it is just money, you did not sink and more important you are doing well!

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I have 6 total . The ones I replaced or rebedded I used 5200 . The yard used Boatlife I think to rebed . For the fiberglass work check out my thread titled Hauled out in the General Maintenance section .

Marty, if that's the dumbest thing you've done related to boats, you're a lot smarter than me.

BoatLife.... I wouldn't use that stuff to seal anything below the water line. Marty, you used 5200 and it dried out and leaked that stuff is usually bomb proof.

HopCar said:

Marty, if that's the dumbest thing you've done related to boats, you're a lot smarter than me.

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+1

Good grief.

Most boaters fart and lose $400.

Forget it, enjoy your new health, and don't stress the small stuff. AND it's all small stuff!

HiDHo said:

BoatLife.... I wouldn't use that stuff to seal anything below the water line. Marty, you used 5200 and it dried out and leaked that stuff is usually bomb proof.

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No I used 5200 this time on my repairs ,no problems with these . The ones that I didn't remove and rebed are the ones that dried out and leaked . No telling when the last time these were removed and rebedded. When we removed the two that were leaking most of the caulk was gone . It looked like when these were done several years ago the caulking was spun off the thru hull when they tightened it up .

I've done worse on the boat. If you really want to talk about mistakes, my ex cost me 7 figures....

Marty,
That's all you got, a $400 mistake? Please tell me you're not losing sleep over something that trivial!

Jim Gandee said:

Marty,
That's all you got, a $400 mistake? Please tell me you're not losing sleep over something that trivial!

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I guess the thread title was the wrong choice of words,should have been "A Lesson On Patience "
It's not so much the money thang , we got over that pretty quick with the long overdue boat ride home . I had originally planned on at least rebeding all the thru hulls . I really wanted to replace all the all of them with new valves and backing plates the way they needed to be repaired . But when my body said no and my budget was gone and I wanted my boat back in , my gut was still telling me to get these fixed while out . That's when I wish I had been more patient . I wanted a few more boat rides before the season was over . I could've spent another 600 or so and another week or two out and everything would have been done the way I had originally planned . Next haul out for sure .
This has really been more of a lesson for me about patience. Take the time and money to do it right the first time. How many times have we all heard that one ?

Marty

If you are like me the $400 is not the issue. It is that your decision could have put you in jeopardy.

Bay Pelican said:

Marty

If you are like me the $400 is not the issue. It is that your decision could have put you in jeopardy.

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Yes , Thank You . Maybe I could get get the mods to change the thread title .

I wouldn't beat myself up too bad.....

The vast majority of boats hit the water with thru hulls that haven't been rebedded in decades and don't leak.

It's a gamble that is usually OK, it was the one time you lost but resolved it with minimum fuss.

Sometimes you just don't have everything it takes (time, tools, weather, energy, money, etc) to do things the way you want till forced to.

Simple risk management....when it's not so simple.

Among other things, thru hulls are the number one reason why I don't consider my boat seaworthy. I was starting to wonder if I could save a couple bucks and not completely replace all 9, but I will learn from your mistake and make all brand new. Thanks.


Every time I start to want an inboard in my sailboat, I realize I would have to put holes in my perfectly watertight bottom.

I did a thru-hull by myself last time, not knowing what the hell I was doing as usual. It was in a DIY yard and I was able to beg and borrow all the necessary tools I didn't have but it was stressful. I did it in the slings of the lift-- thought it would be a quick job. Lol.

What's the deal with the caulk drying out? I don't understand that.

So, when you and your wife enjoy your next sumptuous home-prepared dinner and wine together, you will have saved 1/5 of the 'mistake'. Repeat four more times.

Not much of a 'mistake' anyway. They were watertight, they had been watertight, they shoulda' remained watertight!

cardude01 said:

I did a thru-hull by myself last time, not knowing what the hell I was doing as usual. It was in a DIY yard and I was able to beg and borrow all the necessary tools I didn't have but it was stressful. I did it in the slings of the lift-- thought it would be a quick job. Lol.

What's the deal with the caulk drying out? I don't understand that.

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Bill I think it was more of not enough caulk than drying out. When the thru hulls were taken out and rebedded several years ago it looks like they tightened them up from the outside with a thru hull wrench instead of tightening the nut on the inside and spun most of the caulking out . When we removed them there was very little caulking there . They may have sealed back up had I left it in the water in the slings longer . They were not leaking before the haul out but I didn't want to chance it .

Pack Mule said:

Bill I think it was more of not enough caulk than drying out. When the thru hulls were taken out and rebedded several years ago it looks like they tightened them up from the outside with a thru hull wrench instead of tightening the nut on the inside and spun most of the caulking out . When we removed them there was very little caulking there . They may have sealed back up had I left it in the water in the slings longer . They were not leaking before the haul out but I didn't want to chance it .

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Ahh, got it now. I'm trying to think now if I spun mine from the outside or tightened the nut on the inside. I think it was the nut. I used 5200 and it doesn't leak so maybe I'm good. I have one more thu hull to replace but I was so traumatized by the first experience I'm putting it off. Next time I think I will block the boat up and do a few things instead of being rushed.

I can see myself having made that mistake. For those of us who have a limited boating season, it sure is frustrating having your ship on the hard. Feels like time's a wastin'.

$4 boat dollars Pffffft

Marty,
On our last haulout we didn't replace any through hulls. But the one before that (8mos prior) we had a new seacock installed. It was leaking through the valve .. not the hull seal. Always thought of through hulls as good to go unless they had issues like can't close or open or were leaking. Never occured to me to consider the others. Your experience is a good heads up for me in the future.

Hey,
How'd I become a "Space Guy"?
And $400 for two through hulls seems dirt cheap to me. We paid twice that much for a haulout, wash down (they called it "prep for paint") "lay day" moorage fees (one week) and borrowing a prop puller.

Sure hope you're feeling good now.