Dockside water

golfpcb · #1 (**permalink**) 10-02-2011

When you are cruising and in a marina with access to dockside water do you usually or always hook up? With dockside water your onboard pumps don't operate and make a lot of noise -mine do make lots of noise.

mitchbrown · #2 (**permalink**) 10-02-2011

Many marinas dont allow you to hook up pressure water to the boat because of the risk of you sinking it if anything starts leaking. My opinion is, Its a bad idea.

Mitch

TQA · #3 (**permalink**) 10-02-2011

Quote:

Originally Posted by mitchbrown

many marinas dont allow you to hook up pressure water to the boat because of the risk of you sinking it if anything starts leaking. My opinion is, its a bad idea.

Mitch

+1

neverknow · #4 (**permalink**) 10-02-2011

If your water pump is very noisy check and make sure it's mounted on a vibration dampener of some kind. Also you can cover it with sound proofing material.

Faster · #5 (**permalink**) 10-02-2011

"Plugging into" pressure water from shore (like an RV) is a very scary thought. I think in 30 years of boating around here I've only seen one boat so equipped.

Don't do it... fill your tank as needed, plug in electrically to charge batteries if necessary.

dhays · #6 (**permalink**) 10-03-2011

Quote:

Originally Posted by Faster

"Plugging into" pressure water from shore (like an RV) is a very scary thought. I think in 30 years of boating around here I've only seen one boat so equipped.

Don't do it... fill your tank as needed, plug in electrically to charge batteries if necessary.

Agreed. One of the things to keep in mind is that your plumbing can handle the pressure from your water pump, but that is likely pretty low. What is the pressure from the dockside system?

Around here Marinas are often much lower than the surrounding area, a combination of steep shorelines and large tidal swings. Does the Marina have a pressure regulator? If so, what is the pressure at your slips hose bib? Let's say you are connected to shore power in a Marina surrounded by hills at low tide. You are running your sink water full open for some reason and then suddenly shut the water off. Imagine the hydraulic hammer force that is being applied to all of your boats plumbing as that moving water column suddenly comes to a stop (water doesn't compress well). You could easily blow a hose anywhere in your pluming system, something that would make your day far more exciting that you might wish.

Many folks around here have small pressure regulators they put on their slips hose bibs just to keep their dock hoses from failing or they use expensive hoses designed for high pressure (or just buy cheap hoses and replace them every couple years).

PorFin · #7 (**permalink**) 10-03-2011

Most boat connectors that enable direct hook-up to dock hose bibs are pressure regulated to preclude the damage dhays rightfully warns against.

That said, I would hate to bet my boat on that connector being foolproof. Let's face it -- if one on an R/V fails, you've got some wet carpet; if the one on your boat fails, you're now a submarine owner.

Is it a convenience? Maybe so. Just be very prudent as to how you use this convenience. I'd recomend against it, but if you do decide to go that route, consider using it like you do with propane -- only pressurize the system when you actually use it.

dhays · #8 (**permalink**) 10-03-2011

Quote:

Originally Posted by PorFin

Most boat connectors that enable direct hook-up to dock hose bibs are pressure regulated to preclude the damage dhays rightfully warns against.

I wasn't aware that the boat connectors had built in pressure regulators. Sure makes sense.

I think I would want to provide a bit of insurance by using a regulator on the dockside hose bib as well. With double protection like that, I could see using it when you are on the boat. Anytime leaving the boat I would turn the water off at the dock. Many pressure regulators attached to hose bibs will release water to get rid of the pressure in the hose when the water is shut off. This would leave the boats system depressurized until returning to the boat and turning on the water at the dock again.

arknoah · #9 (**permalink**) 10-03-2011

Could you purchase a pressure regulator after market, like I used to do on my travel trailer?

BluemanSailor · #10 (**permalink**) 10-03-2011

When I live aboard my previous boat for 6 years I used a Water pressure regulator like this one -

JABSCO FLUSH MOUNT CHROME WATER PRESSURE REGULATOR 45PSI - 44411-2045

with an off value right on the dockside water faucet. NEVER had a problem. When I would go to work in the morning just turn the value off. If I went out of town turned the dockside water off.