Seacocks Open or Closed when Away from Boat

[DrB]

I have a "When it Breaks, It will Break when I am Furthest Away From It" attitude, having had many a things go wrong because I forgot to turn something off, on, etc. and then left for a long period of time.

When I leave my boat, I close ALL seacocks (even above waterline ones) except for the cockpit drains. I know some folks leave theirs open, but my fear is that a hose pops or cracks and sunk boat. I can't check on it every day, and it is at a mooring, so I don't have unlimited power for a bilge pump.

What do others do? Just curious.

DrB

[swadiver]

I close them all. I also hang my engine key from the raw water seacock so I cannot start until I open that thru hull.

[TrueBlue]

I suppose it's good to repeat this question every now and then, since it is an important topic. But there was a similar thread just over a month ago.

[Boasun]

Close them and have a boarding checkoff list for opening those valves and of anything else you want to check. Such as putting in the speed log impeller, battery checks, engine fluid checks and any locks that you have placed on the boat for security. Oh! bilge checks also. Things happen you know

And have a debarking checkoff list for those valves and other things that have to be done before you head for the house (to me the boat is home). Nothing like coming back to the boat and finding moldy bread and rancid meats in the ice box. So use a check list here also.

[Rockter]

All below the water line closed, every time.

[teshannon]

Never close any of them in spite of it being a good practice.

[avazquez]

I do close them all.

[Giulietta]

Originally Posted by avazquez

I do close them all.

No wonder.....one time I sailed a boat like yours and water was coming in thru the kitchen sink...

[nk235]

Its funny this popped up as I was just about to do a search on this as I was wondering the same thing. I just bought a new boat and it has 5 sea cocks, some in tough positions to open and close easily, especially the one in the engine compartment for the raw water intake where I have to unscrew the lock nuts holding the companion way stairs in place and then pull the stairs out and reach way back in to the compartment behind the engine to the seacock. Plus I have been going down to the boat every day or every other after work so to do this that much just seems like a pain in the ass.

What are really the chances of something happening? How often does this occur? I mean I inspect the hoses and clamps everytime I do check the sea cocks and they all look great and in perfect working order.

Anyway I know it makes good sense to close them everytime, its just a lot of work.

[TrueBlue]

Just last weekend I assisted the new owner of my last boat for getting her ready for a sea-trial sail on the Bay. He commented on how much of a chore it is to close all 11 through-hulls below the waterline, since our marina has a policy of closing all before launching.

He stated that he will copy my practice of NOT closing them all, each time the boat was left. It truly is a royal pain when there are that many. I also justified this for the unbroken shore power connection and the fact that I lived 5 minutes from the boat, checking it daily.

If I was on a mooring though, I may have done things differently.