I am considering making salt water available at my galley sink. Has anyone done this? If so, from which fitting did you tap the salt water?
Craig
Talaris
Hi Craig,
I have a tee at the raw water seacock for the engine, I just have it going to a foot pump for the galley.
Jonathan
Craig,
I also have a T but it is on the old cockpit drain through hull (1.5 inch) via a stepdown reducer to 0.75 inch dia which goes through a filter to a foot pump-my cockpit now drains through the transom. I wanted to keep the engine intake fitting dedicated solely for that purpose. The filter is worth having, I think.
Mark
BCC Xiphias
Craig,
I also T-ed off the engine intake, and have never had a problem. It goes to a footpump, but it doesn’t get a lot of use.
Dan BCC 59 Shaula
I am reluctant to tee off the cockpit drain because I need to leave that drain open when the boat is unattended. I’ll probably go for the engine intake.
Are people using vented loops and engine-rated hoses? Or are you just running clear tubing from the intake to the sink? This hose will become yet another new way to sink the boat …
Craig
Talaris
Craig,
I used nyon-reinforced tubing. I fastened a threaded plug near the tee, so I can close off line to the sink if desired. I’ve never used the plug. I don’t think a vented loop is called for.
Dan
I have salt water plumbed to the sink as well. I put a tee in the raw water filter discharge and took it from there. Actually i put in a bit of a plumbing christmas tree there, to also accommodate sucking antifreeze from a bucket for winterizing the engine.
Don’t put in a vented loop in - you don’t need it. The faucet is above the waterline, so no risk of siphon, and the vented loop will pull air if you put it upstream of the foot pump. Even if it does siphon on a heal… it goes into the sink 
Using saltwater to wash dishes while cruising in clean water is a HUGE water savings measure - rinse with fresh obviously…
On the downside, on out boat the sink is next to the stove, and the stove burner caps are cast iron. I swear we’ve gone through more burner caps, because of rust, because of salt water splash from the sink.
Regards,
Jeremy
oh - one more piece of advise… from the amusing experiences department… don’t cook pasta in saltwater, no mater how clear it looks.
Jeremy,
Do you have a kerosene stove? We do, and our burner caps have fallen apart way too quickly over the last 3 or 4 years. During that period, we haven’t needed to use the salt water to wash dishes, so we blame the problem on the poor material they used for the caps. Unfortunately, our sources for replacement caps have dried up since no one is making kero burners any more. I’m not sure what we’ll do when we’ve used the last of the spares. I found 2 brand-new burners in the local used boat gear store for a very low price, but that’s not a reliable source. Our stove is a Shipmate, 2 burner with oven.
Dan
Hello Dan,
No, I have a force 10 propane stove (two actually - anyone want one? hehe). Force 10 used to ship brass burner caps - but switched to cast iron ceramic glazed before we bought our first one in 1991/2. The relatively new stove I have has different burner cap design than the original - but they’re still iron/ceramic.
regards,
Jeremy