Water Ballast and Composite Companionway
It is nice to be finished with composite work and working on the systems. Deck hardware is close to complete and will be in the next blog post. We have a few custom items that will greatly improve the shorthanded sailing.
This post is about the water ballast plumbing. KISS is the way I like to keep things on board and the water ballast plumbing is nice and simple. There are 2” hose running from the tanks to the three separate manifolds that can be removed for adjustment or repair. The pump is Rule 3800 GPH, which will fill the tanks quickly. Each tank has it own gate valve as does the fill and dump. The pickup dump valve is a SoFo from France.
All of the controls for the gate valves will be line led to the Stb side of the companionway. This will allow us to control the tanks below or on deck. Line opens the valves and shock cord closes them, so all you need is a small jam cleat for each line. Also the pickup will have an extension so you can dump or pick up water while at the hatch on deck.
Ah, speaking of the companionway that had to be built. I did a plywood mock up in the middle of the winter and used it for a month to make sure it worked well. Then I vacuum bagged a glass/corecell panel. Cut out the sides and four steps, bonded together, then reinforced above and below the steps. Finished product is painted and Kiwi Grip on the treads and sides. This is bolted in for easy removal. We are very pleased with the final product.