The worst wounds are often self inflicted. We’ve had a slow freshwater leak from our plumbing in the starboard hull all season. On a monohull with a bilge sump it would go largely unnoticed. The water would pool in the sump and be pumped out every few hours without you noticing. On a flat bilge catamaran it’s totally different. Every drop of water sloshes around but it would take tens of gallons to get high enough for the bilge pump to suck it out. So until we get really motivated, or until the leak worsens, I’ve just been sponging it up occasionally. Think one gallon a month maybe. But, we have been suspicious of a mixing valve that lets us select saltwater or freshwater for toilet flushing. Fresh is way better as you don’t have dying sea creatures in your plumbing and holding tanks, but it’s nice to have saltwater as a backup in case the watermaker dies on passage. And the saltwater system is one I never use, so I usually just leave it in it’s winterized state, which means full of red rv antifreeze. So when we see red or pink in the bilge it’s a hint of where it came from.
Fast forward to Monday when we moved the boat from the Long Beach YC dock across the fairway to a safe spot we could leave her while we went to Disney. We filled the fuel tanks on the way to be ready to depart to San Diego. And we took the time to top up our aft storage tanks. Lyrae is a specially outfitted Outremer that has double the fuel storage of standard. We carry nearly 200 gallons of diesel and, at 0.6g/hour per engine; that’s quite a range (we use one engine when on passage to run at 5.5 knots). So after fueling, tying up and getting ready to leave the boat for a Disneyland hotel earl the next morning, I did a final check of the bilge and saw just a tiny bit of liquid in the usual spot. Sierra asked “why is it pink?”, to which I smugly answered “that’s because we have a small leak and it’s coming from the saltwater plumbing.” I’m extra smug now because that’s a new mixing valve that LJ installed, not me 😉
Fast forward a week and we’re back on the boat after an amazing time at Disney. We saw friends from Orcas (4 different kid families!) and even had a sleepover party Friday night. Saturday morning we said a sad goodby to Long Beach and our friends and headed out to make the 30 nm run to Dana Point. We motored about half the time and after dropping the sails and turning towards port I went below to check a few things and I found … traces of red liquid in the port bilge. Note, this bilge has been dry since I fixed a holding tank leak this spring. The symptom of that was red antifreeze leaking from the holding tank over the winter into the bilge. “Dammit”, I thought, “do I have another poop water problem?” After staring at the small puddle of red liquid, I did what I should always do. I touched it. Slimy. But I know at least 3 red liquids on the boat that are slimy: rv antifreeze, yanmar engine coolant, and diesel. So I tasted it. DIESEL IN THE BILGE!! Oh boy. There are diesel fuel lines running all through the deepest darkest unreachable corners of this boat. If we have a diesel leak it means a week of tearing the boat apart with a few mechanics. Think ‘pull the couch and fridge and sink out of the salon’ style tear up the boat. More than we’ve ever done before. So I start pulling up floorboards and working my way to the deepest part of the bilge. Ugh, a serious puddle. A gallon? A few gallons? Dammit. Panic. Breathe. Panic some more. Dread telling wife. Breathe. Think. Huh. Remember when Sierra noticed the starboard bilge water was red? And I smugly told her it was antifreeze from MOM’s mixing valve?! Uh oh. Head to starboard. Pull up the bilge board. Red slimy liquid. Taste it — diesel. Ok. Panic starts to subside. What are the odds of blowing a line on both sides at exactly the same time? That’s low. So now my analysis moves into the dreaded zone — what have I touched? What did I do differently? Think…. The fuel transfer system. I have been chasing a slow vent on the aft port tank and the forward starboard tank. I’ve had luck leaving the transfer manifold that connects tanks open in the past, and when the tanks are full that allows air to transfer between the tanks. But I’ve never left it open to the aft storage tanks until I refueld Monday, precisely the day Sierra noticed the pink bilge liquid. Aha. So I peel up the beds that cover the aft storage tanks. They’re full, like overfull. And dribbling out around a fitting or two on the top. Where do that extra fuel come from?! Huh. Check the front supply tanks. Starboard is full, and port is — half empty?! WTH, that should be full! Ok, then I finally inspect my fuel polishing and transfer system that I’m so proud of and realize that the diesel return line for the port tank has an easier path sending the fuel to the aft storage tanks than into the port supply tank like it’s supposed to. And if some idiot leaves those transfer valves open, my yanmar engine has been happily overfilling the aft storage tanks. It’s doing exactly what I told it to do, I was just an idiot. Diesel plumbing is just like computer programming. It does exactly what you tell it to.
So after buying 100 absorb pads at Westmarine, getting half naked and mopping up the bilge while listening to MSU get annihilated by UM, I couldn’t help but think how the worst wounds are often self inflicted. To her credit LJ didn’t freak out, and to be honest I don’t think she can even smell diesel as it’s in her blood from a childhood on boats. There’s still more after-mess to deal with (some of the bilge is inaccessible). But I understand what happened, I don’t think we caused any lasting harm (my kids brains are already mostly developed, what’s a day of benzene fumes really gonna do to them…), and I’ve learned yet again not to be so damn smug to say I know an answer to a question before stopping, thinking, listening and … tasting.
Meet the Millers 