While surveying a French sailing yacht today in Swanwick Marina near Southampton, built in 2001, I managed to break a seacock with a small strike from a hammer. The following photo was the result:
Take a look at the colour of the failed material - a bright rosy pink. I took a knife blade to the broken edge and could cut into it as if it were a soft plastic. The zinc has leached out of the brass/bronze, leaving a material with no strength. If the fitting had failed whilst at sea, there would have been a fair rate of water in-rush and it may have been some time before the crew would be able to find the source of the flooding. If it had failed at night, the batteries would have become submerged very quickly, losing lighting and engine starting capability. It is for this reason that all boat skippers should know the whereabouts of all of their skin fittings and seacocks. I always recommend in my report that each skin fitting should have an appropriately sized softwood bung lightly taped to the adjacent hose. If the seacock fails in this way, the bung can be quickly located and forced into the hole to stem the flow of water.
Moving on from the failed fitting, I aggressively pulled on the hoses of other fittings and hit the seacocks with a light hammer. The following photo shows the result:
Needles to say, my report will recommend that ALL skin fittings and seacocks below the waterline are replaced with marine grade bronze. The brokers were initially a bit displeased, but soon joined in with the breaking of a good number of seacocks.
I suggest that any boat owner checks their seacocks this winter, but only when the boat is out of the water. Give the hose a good sideways pull, strike the seacock body with a hammer. If in doubt, remove the skin fitting and inspect closely. It is not possible to visual differentiate between brass and marine grade bronze, although some seacocks and skin fittings have an identification mark on the body.
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I guess that’s one thing you can charge to experience, Nic. Just imagine what could have happened if you didn’t break that seacock with the hammer. Looking at that image tells me that the failed material was a product of chemical reaction. Anyway, good call on the replacements. Grade marine grade bronze/brass is in fact one of the best materials to use for such conditions.
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