samsturdy said..
Took the boat out yesterday and got a little fish up me inlet pipe.....not too painful, but, it
did cause a bit of grief. So I got to thinking of a hull strainer. I don't really like hull strainers.
I don't like the idea of drilling holes in the hull to screw on a fitting, especially if you have to
take it off every year to clean it and screw it back on again. I wouldn't mind if could screw a
fitting on ONCE and have the business part of it detachable for cleaning and anti fouling. But,
does such a thing exist??. I have an in-line filter but the fish didn't get that far. So fellers, any
suggestions.??

MorningBird said..

Do you really need it? After 10.5 years of sailing around Pittwater and elsewhere I have never had anything caught in the inlet. MB has a water strainer as an inline filter and it works a treat. It hasn't happened yet but a fish or any debris that can fit in the inlet will go to the filter and get stuck there. The filter is long enough that it is unlikely to stop water flow.
A strainer over the inlet will just block up with growth and it will be the time you forgot to clean it that you really need to engine.

samsturdy said..

One advantage I have is, with a little bit of work, being able to get everywhere on my engine easily.
So as long as I can stop the boat safely I can take off the engine casing and strip the cooling water
system down from the skin fitting to the pump. I think I would prefer to do that rather than risk a
build up of crud in a hull strainer that is impossible to get to on the water.

MB would love to catch up and will make the effort providing weather is OK and appointments
don't get in the way.

MorningBird said..




We should arrange to raft up. You can have a look at how mine is set up and I would like to have a look at your boat. I'll be up on Monday for an engine service and maybe change the seal in the gearbox. MB won't be mobile obviously while I do these jobs but if you are around you could come over and raft up.

Last Monday I took MB for a drive and noted a light patch of water in the deep channel and wondered what it was. It wasn't until I was on top I realised it was a huge mass of jellyfish. I watched the temp alarm for awhile after that. However, if one got caught against the hull it is just as likely it would have got sucked onto/into a strainer as actually getting in the inlet hole.

Lazzarae said..





I'm with Sam & MB on this one, I have no external strainer & rely on my filter.

I have 2 inlets with large filters inside. If the engine intake gets blocked, at an inconvenient time, I can flick a tap over to feed the motor with the other (heads, deck-wash etc) intake.

So far no blockages but if I had to I can ram a broom handle down through the open ball valve to clear anything in either intake.

Trek said..


What a great idea!! I did get my engine coolant water clogged with a plastic bag once and couldnt get it out at the time.

Fitting a diversion



Lazzarae what a great idea! I don't know if the others noticed that comment.

Having a switch so the engine coolant water can come from one of the other seacocks if necessary is a great plan. Next time Im on the boat Im going to do it. Just need a T piece in the head water inlet line and feed it via an inline tap into another t piece in the water engine coolant water inlet line.

Although Im with MB in that after years and years of sailing I only got engine inlet clogged badly once so hopefully its use would be rare.

HG02 said..
My engine inlet is 1 inch I.D. although I have not fitted it yet its more than enough for my engine and have thought of plumbing to my head then I would not need a head inlet. What worries me is one inch large enough if the motor was running and the head being used at the same time I think it would more than enough ?


Jolene said..
I went another way though and put a Tpiece in the intake line after the seacock. One end goes to the internal filter/ pump, the other goes to a ball valve with a hose barb. I can close the seacock and open the other valve and draw water from where ever I like. I can use it to draw water with a hose over the side or from a bucket,even the head. It could also be used to pump the bilge in an emergency