I actually got a decent amount of sleep at work last night, so I decided to tackle the dreaded head, and it was every bit as bad as I thought it would be. I removed the head, holding tank, and all associated plumbing to start. Kind of a heavy picture day to show what I did. Here is a pile of trash and the removed holding tank (yes, it is still half full).
I have a couple of problems with the two seacocks in here. Unfortunately I can’t replace either of them right now, because the boat is still in the water. The discharge one seems to be frozen and I couldn’t get it to budge. I sprayed some penetrating oil on it and will spray more for a couple of days and try again. The one for the water inlet to flush with seems to be missing a bolt on the side that allows water to stream out rather than through the hose that was attached. This made for a lovely mess to clean up when I found out.
When I got everything removed I had pretty good access to the behind area (I think the was the “hamper”) and discovered some issues that needed to be taken care of. The biggest one is the wire running from back here down to a connection point in the bilge. I’m pretty sure this is lightening strike protection, and I would kind of like to have it working. The wire is not only corroded beyond belief, it is actually cut. I figured if I was going to replace it I might as well go ahead and do the other side as well. Of course this ended up being much harder and more time consuming than I figured. That seems to be a rule with boats. I used insulated wire rather than the bare copper that used to be in there, and used water proof connections designed for boats on the end. The connections were more expensive than you would think, and I didn’t buy enough to finish the job. Those both seem to be other rules when dealing with boats.
The next step should be sanding the whole area down to get it ready for priming, but I sure don’t want to be breathing mold dust and other nasty funk while doing it, so I figured I should give it a good cleaning. Bleach and water will work wonders sometimes. Think I am overstating the problem? Check this out… Can you tell where I have cleaned?
I cleaned up all the tools I used with bleach and sprayed another layer on the walls and ceilings to help kill off anything I may have missed before I start stripping and sanding. Then I went home, threw all my clothes in the wash, and took a long, very hot shower. I’m glad this project is done, and I hope to never have to repeat it.
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