Peter:

Congrats on your Westsail 32 - try to NOT add to the 360 deg count! and welcome aboard.  Here are a few of my ideas...

Some folks like these strainers and other find that little things grow inside then become large and clog them up!!

The sea cock below is very common on Westsail's.  If you are out of the water they should come apart by loosening/removing the 2 bolts on the opposite side and removing the bracket.  Then gently tighten the Tee handle to attempt to push the rubber cone out of the houseing.  Assuming the rubber is in good shape and still attached to the handle - lube (seems I used a water proof grease) and reinstall.  Then repeat on all the sea cock's...

If you are in the water you could plug it from the outside but it's safer out of the water for sure.

This looks like the mount for an early depth sounder.  This was the first thing I removed on the first haul out!... New depth sounders don't need a hole through the hull as they can be mounted inside the hull.

If I recall correctly, the actual hole is about 1" in diameter.

Hope this helps.

jay

Peter, welcome.  We have a WS42, but the same Groco seacocks were used as you have in your WS32.  I spent the past summer replacing all of my seacocks and through-hulls.  While I found the through-hulls to be somewhat sound (circa 1976), the seacocks were not salvagable.

I removed all the through-hulls and seacocks and replaced them with new Groco bronze seacocks.  Some of the old seacocks were able to unscrew once I got the through-hull to move.  However, I did have to cut the through hull out on most of them because the bedding compound was doing such a great job.

The cutting the through-hull "out" did not involve cutting the hull.  I simply used a dremel tool to cut through the external mushroom head in a quandrant pattern.  It was then a simple process of prying the pieces of bronze off.  The 1976 bronze was soft enough to break with a small amount of prying so as to not damage the hull.  The seacocks were easy to remove after that.

My word of caution relates to reusing the existing through-hulls.  I would recommend you inspect them thoroughly.  I did find mine looked great, but seemed to be more malleable than was healthy.  I am also a fan of bronze seacocks, but marelon products are very well made.

What seemed at first to be a horrendous process was actually more straight forward and shall I say easier than I expected.  With the exception of one 11/2 inch seacock that had an attitude problem, the removal took about 2 days or a weekend.

I also had a depth sounder that protruded from the hull on one side and a knotmeter on the other.  After wrangling between (1) using GPS for speed and an in-hull depth sounder to eliminate holes in the hull or (2) depth and speed tranducers with holes in the hull, I decided to install a triducer (depth, speed, and temp,etc).  Well, one less hole, but I will be able to guage current flow with the knotmeter.  However, I still like the no holes option with the in-hull depth sounder:  smoother hull and no holes!

Congratulations on your "new" vessel!  The WOA and Bud, especially, are great resources who make Westsail ownership special.

Doug

Plastic and bronze get along fine! = no material issues as the plastic is passive in salt water.

Plastic and SS get along fine as well 

SS, plastic and bronze, together not so much. they kind of work like a capacitor +/- . but is somewhat dependent on the configuration+/- and distance apart.

Bronze and Stainless steel Not so much, If you are interested in finding out more Just look up there Galvanic constants or

http://www.corrosion-doctors.org/Definitions/galvanic-series.htm

  the ones at the bottom eat (corrode) the ones at the top.

so if Bronze is below the stainless steel (On the chart)  and connected +/- the 316Lss will corrode away while the bronze is protected+/-  + Not good at all.

Oh this also shows why we all use zinks for corrosion control, it is near the top of the chart = giving up to save all other metals (well not so much so for Al).

Have a good rust free day.
Norm

OK now you need to state the plastic (glass reinforced) Marelon? Nylon? ******etc. etc.

http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/linear-expansion-coefficients-d_95.html

There are allot of plastics out there and they have different expansion coeff's
In a valve between 32F and 90F  there is not a big deal, worst case  Ethylene ethyl acrylate - bronze = 0.0001044 in/ in / f   or on a 1.5" valve = 1.5*58*0.000104 or 0.009" it will move that much.
For the marelon it should be less than 0.0009". 

So if you are not making long or big items, or working on a telescope, it should not be an issue but an A for thinking about the expansion issue.  It can bit you if you don't watch for it.

Bedding can take up quite a bit of movement so 0.0009" is nothing  above 0.01" and you need to check for how thick the seal is.   

For 58 Deg range.  most of us are much smaller  40 to 80 +/-

Hope no one is going below the 32F : )

BSP  (thruhulls) are a straight tread, so you do need a sealent +/-  putting a npt to it will kind of work but there is less of a seal and the 0.0009" could be an issues if the threads are not  compressed enough to take up the small expansion needed when cooled to 32 f. from a 90deg summer day install.

Hope this helps
Norm

P.S I am not recommending using NPT fittings with BSP fittings in any material, as they are not made for each other.  My Grocos are BSP and all of the thruhulls I have purchased are BSP as well. 
 

Dick you probably don't realize it, but I am in awe of you and I am honoured to be getting a message from you. I have read all of your blog posts and have been following you for years. I will take up your suggestion and make some unique project write-ups for windblown. The following in order of priority is my initial list.
Rigging - check each tang, turnbuckle, toggle, through bolt, clevis pin, and stay for corrosion and replace where necessary (most if not all the clevis pins are badly rusted)
Replace bowsprit
Check each thru-hulls in turn and fill with epoxy or replace with marelon
Base of Bob stay needs removal and re-fitting with epoxy
Engine overhaul  - replace mounts and stuffing box
Overhaul rudder  - need new Teflon washers and replace stainless nuts with bronze
Seal under cap rail with 5200 adhesive and purchase mahogany to replace broken sections
Bolt stanchions onto bulwark
Purchase two 6lb Propane tanks for locker and hook to stanchions with regulator and solenoid
Fit 3 missing Hawse pipes
Install AM/FM/mp3 radio and Waterproof Speakers for cockpit
Repair delaminated tiller
 Repair Lazerette latches
Install solar and LiFePO4 batteries
Install Ray marine autopilot and purchase spare
fit new monitor wind-vane
Search tempest for sails
Mosquito netting
Find out how to lock down sole
Install SSB

Find out how to repair the stainless boomkin

By the way I have just found out the crucial importance of having a new camera. I was going through some photos the other night and came upon this one.