Bavaria 36 Cruiser 2011 (Farr design)

[Newbies]

Hi there, this is my first post!
My husband and I have just bought our first cruiser, after being dinghy sailors for years, we're finding it a big step up!
I hope this doesn't sound a silly question but we're struggling to find any information about the sea cocks onboard, their location, how many there are, if the Volvo Penta D2 29HP has its own... anything about sea cocks on this model of boat would be a huge help. The previous owner thought it best to leave them open but as the boat is often left on its mooring unattended, we've read that it's better to close them.
Sorry to sound so green but we'd really appreciate some guidance.

[IslandAlchemy]

Hi and congratulations on your venture into "big boat" ownership.

With regard to seacocks, there will be 2 for each toilet (inlet and outlet).  The inlet is the smaller of the two.  Don't know about your specific model, but they're usually found inside one of the lockers in each bathroom.

You will also have an outlet seacock for each sink (one in each bathroom, again in a locker), and there will be one (or two) for the kitchen sink (no idea where this will be, but you can follow the sink drain pipe to find it.

You will have a seacock at the engine saltwater intake.  This is usually found in the engine bay, right on the centreline of the boat (usually in front of the engine).

Hope that helps

Bob

By the way, I never bother to close mine.

[Symphony]

Easy to find - and they are identified in the handbook which should have come with the boat.

Anyway there are two below the waterline for the loo/holding tank, one inlet, one outlet. They are in the locker under the wash basin. You should also find in there another two small ones on the waterline for the wash basin and the shower drain (which is a pump). The last is a drain for the galley sink which will be probably in a locker behind a saloon seat forward of the galley - follow the drain pipe to find it.

Personally I don't close seacocks - irrelevant being on a mooring, they don't fail any more there than in a marina, except if I want to keep effluent in the holding tank when the big toilet outlet has to be shut.

The engine water intake has its own seacock on top of the saildrive unit inside the boat on the port side. You can find that by following the water inlet hose from the pump. again no need to turn it off when leaving the boat.

If you don't have the owners handbook you can get a copy from Bavaria quoting the HIN of your boat.

An excellent choice of boat - enjoy it.

[MarkTheBike]

The engine water intake has its own seacock ... again no need to turn it off when leaving the boat.
An excellent choice of boat - enjoy it.

Personally, I always turn all seacocks off when leaving the boat for more than a day or two, but that's only from habit of previously owning a much older boat. And it helps stop them seizing up. However, I would always turn off the engine seacock. If you have a small air leak in the raw water filter (not enough to break the syphon from the pump when it's running) it will break the syphon when it's stopped. This is easily fixed by closing the seacock and refilling the pipe via the raw filter so no big deal UNTIL the day you forget to check the exhaust water and it overheats.

Definitely a good choice of boat. Welcome to the Forum!!!

[Newbies]

Thank you all so much for you're feedback and advice. I should have mentioned that I asked Bavaria for a manual and was sent a "Manual for owners and skippers" "sailing yacht, Bavaria 36" but this appears to have no information about the sea cocks, just a boat plan (page 35) showing, among other things, "drains" i.e. wash basin drain, waste water drain, sink drain, heating drain, but no mention of sea cocks, I wonder if these are the sea cocks.
Thanks all, for replying so quickly, it's been a big help and thanks too for the positive comments about the boat, very reassuring! 😊
I'm sure we'll be back here before too long!!! Take care

[Symphony]

Yes they are. Look where they ar indicated in the diagram and you will see the valves with a handle on each. They are open when the handle is in line with the valve and closed when at 90 degrees. They only turn one way. Operate them regularly to keep them free. Your choice as to whether to leave them open or closed, but it really does not make any difference!

[Craig]

Leave seacocks open. Less likely to sink than forget to open the water inlet and overheat the engine, or at least, destroy your salt water impellor and have to fish it out of the heat exchanger.

If you do close the seacocks, close all or none, and leave a big note on the chart table to remind you to open all seacocks before doing anything on board.

I'm a bit confused by the description of your engine. I thought the D1-30 was the 27 Hp Volvo engine. Has this changed in later models?

Craig
"Shirley Valentine"
Gold Coast
Australia

[Newbies]

Thanks again Symphony, the boat hasn't been used much this year (we bought it two weeks ago) we're going for our second visit this coming weekend, so we'll operate them to make sure nothing's seized.

Hi Craig, the 29hp was an option when the boat was new and I believe, looking in the owners manual, that the engine is the D2-40 with 130S sailboat drive, but we're on a big learning curve, perhaps I've ID'd the wrong engine in the manual.

Thanks very much for your replies 

[Symphony]

As its name implies the D2 40 is the 40hp upgrade. Looks much the same as the 30 and all the essential bits including the seawater intake are in much the same location as the smaller engine. Hopefully you have the manual for the engine as well.

[Newbies]

Hi again, thanks Craig and Symphony for putting me right, I hadn't realised the significance of the 30/40, I think the learning curve will be near vertical for a while!
And yes, the manual is here, safe to say I won't be looking at it too often, I'll leave that to my better half! Thanks very much for your help.

[Impavidus]

Welcome to the forum!

Just to add to what others have already said on sea cocks.....
I always close my engine raw water intake (on the sail drive behind the engine). I loosen the water strainer first to allow the water to drain to it's natural level and prevent any siphoning should the anti siphon valve not do its job. I then close it.

Our sink drains are above the water line so they stay open. Our shower drain is also above water.
The toilet intake and outlet from the holding tank are below the water. The outlet is always closed unless we are discharging the tank. So that only leaves the toilet inlet open all the time.

The perceived risk is actually pretty low if your pipes are in good condition and are all double clipped with genuine 316 stainless steel hose clips below the waterline. Obviously you need to check them fairly regularly.
Providing you do, the failure of the ball valve will only let water into the pipe which is not really a problem. The risk is more likely to come from the through hull fittings which can erode quite quickly under certain circumstances. In which case the valve being open or closed makes little or no difference.

In 35 + years of sailing and owning my own boats. I have never heard of a boat sinking or getting in to trouble through a failed ball valve.

However, I have seen a boat sink because a 2 inch water intake hose failed because the hose clips were 304 stainless and the screw fixing was just steel and it literally popped of during the night. The boat owner did not recover the full insured value because the hose was not double clipped and the fixing were not marine grade.

As for through the hull fixings there is plenty of evidence they fail and need regular inspection and replacement. Even on this forum there are posts around the issues with through the hull fittings. both plastic (above the waterline) and brass, or DZR brass below the waterline. Both of which can fail. Popper bronze fittings are better but not perfect in some conditions.

I guess that its all  down to your maintenance level on the boat, what the through hulls are made of how good your pipes and fittings are and what your insurers expect?

Ant.