- Action: To Do List item A0283 – Clean the bilge. Remove excessive accumulation of engine oil and miscellaneous debris.
- Completed: In-progress.
- Cost: $82.05
During our initial inspections of Indra, we noticed the bilge had engine oil on top of a layer of water. We initially thought this was not a major issue, as "most" responsible boat owners do not allow oil to accumulate in bilge, since it would eventually get pumped out and harm the ocean and its inhabitants. Also, if observed by authorities, pumping oil contaminated bilge water into the ocean could result in a citation and hefty fines, potentially a jail term. Our assumption (we assumed wrong) was this was probably a small amount of oil and could be easily cleaned up once we had some oil absorbent material. Besides, we had inspected the bottom of the engine and found no oil leaks.
On 19 October 2015 we ordered two MDR Oilzorb Bilge Mini Booms ($13.99 each) and five 3M Marine Oil Sorbent Pads ($1.89 each) from Defender's website. These were shipped to our balikbayan box consolidator and forwarder Manila Forwarder in Los Angles, California and received there on 23 October 2015. We received them in Naga City, Cebu on 28 December 2015.
On the next and subsequent trips to visit and work on Indra, we would stuff some of the oil absorbent material down into the bottom of the bilge tied to a string to retrieve it. Each subsequent trip, we would pull out the oil absorbent material and it was thoroughly oil saturated. Strange? We stuffed some more of the oil absorbent material down into the bottom of the bilge and next visit, same result - thoroughly oil saturated. As we had used up all the oil absorbent material we had ordered, decided we needed more.
On 10 December 2017 we ordered two Starbrite Bilge Oil Pads 5 Pack ($8.69 each) and three Buffalo Industries 5" x 15" Bilge Booms ($9.08 each) from Amazon's website. These were shipped to our balikbayan box consolidator and forwarder Manila Forwarder in Los Angles, California and received there on 12 December 2017. We received them in Naga City, Cebu on 23 February 2018.
In March/April 2018, when we returned to Indra, we pulled out the oil absorbent material and it was again thoroughly oil saturated. That was it, we were PISSED OFF! No more oil absorbent material - we would pump out all the liquid from the bilge, rinse, and repeat, until the bilge was clean.
We first attempted to use our hand pump to suck the oil and water up, out of the bilge and into a empty plastic water jug. This did not work very well, as the suction hose diameter was too small and quickly clogged up due to small debris mixed with the oily liquid. As we had previously removed the old defective Shurflow fresh water pump, we rigged it up with electrical power and sections of old 1/2-inch hose, to use it to pump the oily bilge water into empty plastic water containers.
Initially, this was successful, but the pump ceased to pass water, as it too succumbed to pieces of debris and clogged up. But we did managed to get some of the oily mess into the plastic jug.
We used our garden water hose to blow out the pump diaphragm and hoses, reassemble, and then it would work again for a short period of time before it clogged up again. But we managed to get more of the oily water out.
The process of cleaning out the clogged pump was repeated, and again we got more of the oily water out.
Finally, it appeared no more liquids could be pumped out of the bilge. Yet the bilge still appeared blackened with presence of oil.
We used a cloth rag attached to a wooden pole and scrubbed the mess - the rag absorbed the oily mess. Lots of small miscellaneous debris and garbage would stick to the rag and were shaken out into a bucket. The rag was then squeezed out into the bucket to deposit the oil. Then we would use the rag again to gather more oil.
Once the bilge was emptied of all liquid and the rag would not absorb more oil, used the water hose to squirt lots of water under the engine area and around the water lock muffler. The installation location of the water lock muffler impeded the free flow of water back to the deeper parts of the aft bilge.
The squirted water resulted in more oily sludge being exposed and mixed with the water. With the bilge re-filled with about 2-feet of water, then began the process of pumping the oily water to the plastic jugs with the old water pump, which still required constant flushing with fresh water to clear the clogs caused by the debris. When the liquid was removed we would use the rag to wipe the area and remove as much oily sludge and debris. Then we repeated the flushing of the bilge with fresh water and its removal. After the removal of over a hundred of the 10 liter plastic jugs filled with the bilge water - the water coming out was starting to clear up. We repeated the flushing of the bilge with fresh water and not-surprising, the pump overheated and quit running. The only thing left that could pump more water out was the Gusher 30 manual bilge pump. As we had repaired the Gusher 30 manual bilge pump and installed all new seals, we were confident it would do the job (we were wrong again).
After pumping the Gusher 30 manual bilge pump for about five minutes, we had removed ZERO amount of the oily bilge water. Frustrated and more pissed off, we questioned what else is broke on this boat? We removed the tie straps securing the manual bilge pump hose to the interior sides of the bilge and then removed the section of hose with the scupper fitting on that end. The scupper fitting was coated in the oily sludge and the hose clamps were corroded.
Upon opening the scupper fitting, found the problem preventing the manual bilge pump from removing water. The non-return rubber valve (red arrow in picture below) was no longer held in place by its spring-loaded retaining screw - the screw had literally rusted away into nothingness. The non-return rubber valve was being sucked up against the hose fitting with the pump action of the manual bilge pump and blocking the flow of any water. The interior pieces of the scupper fitting were thoroughly coated in oily sludge. The build-up and accumulation of oily sludge had deposited itself on the inside walls of the scupper fitting and 1.5-inch bilge hose. As the picture below illustrates, the 1.5-inch diameter of the hose end of the scupper fitting and the bilge hose, was reduce by about 50-percent also impeding the flow of water. The presence of this much accumulation and oil contamination indicted this "oil in the bilge" issue had been caused and neglected by the previous owners for a very long time.
The scupper fitting pieces were cleaned up to remove all traces of the oily sludge. A machined threaded screw with two nuts and a washer were obtained to serve as a temporary replacement fix for the original, old rusted away screw. Added item A0284 to the To Do List - Obtain and install a replacement manual bilge hose scupper fitting.
The scupper fitting pieces were reassembled and was very careful on the amount of tension the spring applied on the screw, pulling the rubber non-return valve to its closed position. Two nuts were tightened together to lock the length of the screw and spring in-place.
The scupper fitting non-return valve side was reassembled to the hose barb side and tightened down - the interior of the hose bard side did have all the oily sludge deposits removed from its interior side walls. New 1.5-inch bilge hose and double 316 stainless steel hose clamps were installed on the hose bard side as part of To Do List item A0039.
The bilge scupper fitting and hose was positioned in its prior location in the base of the bilge. The picture below illustrates the bilge water was essentially clear of the oily contamination, but the brownish pieces in the water indicate that some of the debris and garbage remained. It was also evident that the length of the strainer on the old scupper fitting, required the water level in the bilge to be above these entryways in order to pump out water - this meant that a level of 3-4-inches of bilge water were not removable due to the length of the scupper strainer entrances.
To facilitate the removal of as much bilge water as possible, we temporarily installed a small Rule 1100gph bilge pump - part of To Do List item A0044. The Rule bilge pump was installed on a wood extension to reach the deepest part of the bilge and the outlet hose was routed upward and exited a port side thru hull hole.
We again squirted lots of water under the engine area and around the water lock muffler. The Rule automatic bilge pump turned on and successfully pump the water out of the boat.
Feeling confident that we had a reliable way to remove water from the bilge (we were wrong again), we routed the water hose inside the boat to wash down the bilge from bow to stern. We started at the chain locker area and thoroughly squirted water to push the debris and sediment in the aft direction. We then removed the floor board outside the head entryway and continued squirting water - pushing more debris, sediment, and garbage aft under the water tank. The water level in this area was rising as we suspected there were blockages under the water and diesel tanks slowing the flow of water aft. We opened the floor boards by the cabin table floor-way and continued squirting water in between the water and diesel tanks - it appeared there was so much debris, sediment, and garbage that it was forming a dam severely restricting the flow of water aft. Positioned the hose down and underneath the tanks and used the pressure of the marina water system to break up some of the restrictions. We could hear the Rule bilge pump running and thought our plan was proceeding pretty well. Then we discovered the bilge hose that exited the boat had no water exiting from the running Rule bilge pump. We removed the power from the Rule bilge pump and pulled it up and out of the bilge - the water level in the bilge was just shy of 3-feet in depth restricting the flow of water in the aft direction.
Upon inspecting the Rule bilge pump strainer installed on the units base, we found it completely blocked by the debris, sediment, and garbage. We cleaned out the strainer and reposition the Rule bilge pump back down in the bilge and turned it back on. It immediately started pumping water out and overboard. In less than two minutes, the flow of water exiting out the boat ceased, but the Rule bilge pump kept running. Again, we found the strainer clogged by debris. We cleaned the strainer out, reinstalled it in the bilge, and started the pump again. It quickly clogged up and water ceased to exit the boat. We tried to reduce the debris and crap in the water by manually collecting and fishing out as much as possible. This help a little, but as the water level in the bilge decreased, more debris, sediment, crap, and garbage flowed aft from the forward bilge. We were finally able to remove as much water from the bilge as possible by persistently cleaning the pump strainer. We checked the rest of the bilge forward and discovered standing water remained forward in the bilge. The exposed areas of the forward bilge all had debris, sediment, crap, and garbage still. This bilge clean up would take more time and effort, but not now, next trip.
