Had to make a call between 1/2 inch marine ply at $65 a sheet or OSB at $22. Went with the plywood. Three days later a copper supply line burst under the sink while I was at work. Came back to six hours of standing water in the bilge. The OSB would've turned to mush by then. Marine ply just swelled a bit at the edges and dried out fine after I hit it with a fan for two days. Now I'm wondering if anyone else spent the extra cash on something and had it pay off quick like this.
Woke up to water sloshing over the floorboards and had to bail with a bucket for an hour before I found a replacement pump at the marina store, anyone else keep a spare bilge pump on hand or am I just unlucky?
Back in 2019 everyone still had those blue canvas biminis, but now it's all black solar arrays charging the house batteries, has anyone else noticed this shift or is it just my neck of the bay?
After the third time my brass pump seized up from all the grit and grime in the water down here in Marathon, I swapped it for a $25 plastic model from West Marine and it's been running smooth for six months straight without a single hiccup, so has anyone else found that simpler stuff holds up better on a liveaboard?
I was ready to swear off boat life forever until my neighbor came over and pointed at the one clamp I'd missed under the sink, which made me feel like a total amateur but at least the leak is gone now, has anyone else had a fix that took way longer than it should have because you overthought the problem?
My bilge smelled like a dead fish for weeks after a fuel spill in Charleston last June. A friend at the marina told me to dump a gallon of white vinegar down there and let it sit for 24 hours. I thought he was nuts but I tried it anyway and the smell was gone the next day. Has anyone else had luck with weird household products for boat cleaning?
Everyone says you NEED a bigger head if you live on a boat, but after 1,000 hours I can honestly say my 3x3 foot bathroom is fine. I timed it - showers take 4 minutes including drying off. Has anyone else found that tiny spaces just make you more efficient or am I the odd one out?
I've always thought solar panels on a small sailboat were a waste of money... too much hassle for too little power. But last week, Bob from slip 14 showed me his setup on a 28 footer. He said after 3 months of running a single 100 watt panel, he's saved $120 on dock charging fees and runs his fridge all day. That conversation hit different because he broke down the numbers in a way I never considered. Maybe I've been too quick to dismiss solar for liveaboards. Anyone else change their mind after seeing a real setup work in practice?
I was pulling out my little boat fridge to clean behind it and found this slow drip that must have been going since I bought the place. The hose clamp was barely hand tight. Has anyone else found a leak that was hiding in plain sight for way too long?
I woke up to water sloshing around my cabin sole. The pump just quit, no warning. It was a Rule 500 that I had installed about 18 months ago. I grabbed a spare Rule 500 I keep in the locker and swapped it out half-asleep in the rain. Took me maybe 20 minutes but my bilge was already ankle deep. Anyone else keep a spare pump on board or do you just wait for it to die first?
Last weekend I was re-caulking the porthole on my 28-footer in Newport and my dock neighbor walks by and just starts cracking up. He said my bead looked like I was trying to decorate a cake with silicone and that I was using way too much marine sealant. Dude was right though I was squeezing it on thick thinking more is better. He showed me this trick where you tape off both sides of the seam first and then lay down a thin even bead and smooth it with a wet finger. Cost me like 8 bucks for the tape and I ended up using half the tube I normally would. Plus the cabin doesnt smell like vinegar for days now. Has anyone else gotten roasted by an old timer for doing some dumb boat fix?
Forgot a can of black beans under the floorboards for 3 months and it exploded in 40 degree heat. Took me 6 hours with a shop vac and a toothbrush to get the smell out. Anybody else got a bilge food disaster story?
Ordered what the website said was a universal joker valve rebuild kit for my head. Got it in the mail, tore everything apart, and the rubber gasket was 2 inches too small. Ended up using electrical tape and a zip tie to hold it together until I could get the right part. Has anyone else been burned by those "fits all" marine parts online?
Started raining at 3am and my old pump finally gave up. That $30 Amazon special moved water all night while I slept. Anyone else keep a backup pump just in case?
Stopped by O'Connell's Marine Supply in Norfolk last weekend and saw a roll of that tape with a $2.99 sticker from the Obama administration, made me miss when you could actually talk to the owner about bilge pump placement instead of scanning a QR code to order online, anyone else finding their local spots are fading out?
Mine gave out last Tuesday at 3am during a surprise storm in Newport Harbor. Woke up to water sloshing over the floorboards. Had to hand bail with a bucket for an hour before I could get the spare in. The old one was only 2 years old and I tested it monthly. Did I get a bad unit or is this just normal for the price point? Curious if anyone else has had one fail on them like that.
He said "just a little silicone and she'll be right" then left me with a slow drip that almost sank my boat last Thursday, has anyone else dealt with a handyman who uses the wrong sealant on through-hulls?
Last Tuesday my pump started making this weird knocking sound around 2 AM. I thought it was just air in the lines so I bled it and went back to bed. Woke up Wednesday morning to zero pressure and water everywhere in the bilge. Turns out the diaphragm had a crack the size of my thumbnail. I spent the next three days living off jug water and taking sponge baths with a bucket. The worst part was finding a replacement pump that fit my tight budget and tiny cabinet space. Finally got a Jabsco off Craigslist for 60 bucks from a guy who was selling his trawler. Has anyone else had a pump fail at the absolute worst time and what did you use as a temp fix?
I bought a 1975 Pearson 30 last fall and the galley faucet was this ugly, corroded brass thing I planned to swap out immediately. After three months of looking at new plastic ones online, I finally decided to try cleaning it with vinegar and a toothbrush instead. Took me about 90 minutes of scrubbing on a Sunday night during my night shift weekend off, and it came up looking like something out of a restoration catalog. The o-ring was shot so I tracked down a $3 rebuild kit from a marine supply place in Norfolk. Now I get compliments on it every time someone steps aboard. Makes me wonder how many other old fittings I've written off too fast. Anyone else save a part you were sure was junk?
I've been keeping track since June, and this morning I hit the 100 gallon mark for bilge water pumped out in just September. That's from a 26 foot sailboat that supposedly doesn't even leak bad. I'm pulling the hatch every other day now and it's always got a few inches sloshing around. Anyone else counting their bilge pump cycles or am I just way too obsessed with this?
I was walking the docks last weekend to check out some liveaboards and this guy had a garden hose taped to a utility pump sitting in a 5 gallon bucket. He told me it's been keeping his 1972 Pearson 30 afloat for 3 months now. Has anyone else run into some wild backyard fixes that actually work way longer than they should?
Last winter off the coast of Charleston, my heat exchanger started weeping coolant into the bilge, and I couldn't find a replacement gasket anywhere. A buddy who's been living aboard since the '90s told me to clean the mating surface and smear on some JB Weld, figuring it'd buy me a week. It's been three months and zero leaks, has anyone else tried a quick fix that just wouldn't quit?
Thought I was being smart keeping the mildew off my cabin walls. Hooked it up to the house batteries and ran it overnight while I was docked in Clearwater. Woke up to dead batteries and a $400 replacement bill cause the thing pulled way more amps than I expected. Anyone else have a power hog gadget that seemed innocent until it wasn't?
I used to just wipe down my porthole gaskets with a damp rag every few months and call it good. Then last winter during a storm near Annapolis, I woke up to a puddle on my bunk - the seal had cracked and water was dripping right onto my pillow. Now I inspect those rubber gaskets with a flashlight every month and rub in a silicone conditioner I found for $6 at the hardware store. Has anyone else had a porthole leak at 2am like that?
He was patching a deck leak and started ranting about how silicon just peels off after six months. Swore by polyurethane instead. Anyone else find silicon fails faster on fiberglass vs wood?