Bob Schneider wrote:

Just purchased a new sailboat and discovered what looks to be an
accumulating white powder at the base of the head sink drain thru-hull. It
is almost growth like and has greenish specs in it. Not sure if it is from
a leaking drain hose causing some sort of mineral deposit. The surveyor
said he did not know what it was but did notice some seepage around the hose
area where it attaches to the seacock. Knowing what this might be before I
clean it up would be a helpful.

Might be salt, minerals or corrosion. More importantly, it's an
indication that you probably want to rebed all your through hulls
(inspecting and replacing as necessary), service the seacocks and
replace some hoses and double-clamp any connections below the waterline.
All gate valves should be replaced by proper seacocks, or at least ball
valves.

It's all routine maintenance, but do a good job now while you have "new
boat" energy. Then you won't have to worry about them later. Believe me,
if you have the boat for a decade, you'll still have some of the
original "to-do" list to be done. As soon as sailing season starts,
maintenance takes a back seat.

--
Jere Lull
Xan-a-Deux ('73 Tanzer 28 #4 out of Tolchester, MD)
Xan's Pages: http://members.dca.net/jerelull/X-Main.html
Our BVI FAQs (290+ pics) http://homepage.mac.com/jerelull/BVI/