Gutting electrical/plumbing components of a 1998 175 Osprey

[MPKehoe09]

I purchased a 1998 Osprey 175 this past weekend from it's original owner. While the hull is in great shape, all of the electronics/wiring/plumbing is shot. I plan on isolating the outboard's wire harness (which is functional) and gutting everything else.

Since I am not big into fishing, I plan to remove all of the wiring/pumps for the live wells, bait wells, and their associated plumbing lines for drains/intakes. Everything is caked with 18 years of gunk and I'd rather get unnecessary stuff out of the bilge. I've got a bit of OCD so if it doesn't work/have a function, I don't want it. Haha

It looks like there is a drain at the bottom of the bait well (beneath the seat in front of the center console) that runs to a through-hull fitting that's below the waterline. Obviously, if I disconnected this through hull fitting, water would flood the bilge. Since I'm no expert on hydrodynamics, it's my understanding that water is constantly in this plumbing line, until it bends up and reaches a point higher then the waterline. Correct? If I want to disconnect this line from the bottom of the bait well, is there a good way to cap this line? Do I secure the plumbing line so its held higher then the water line inside the gunwale? I'd rather not deal with patching the through-hull fitting.

Some may say to just leave it connected to the bottom of the bait well, but beneath my console, an access port is open to allow all these plumbing lines to connect to their wells. I'd prefer to get rid of these lines, and close the access port back up.

The only plumbing intend to replace and have functional, is the bilge pump (pump, wiring, hoses, clamps) with a float switch.
 
Electric wise, I will re-wire the navigation lights, fish finder/gps, bilge pump, and add a marine radio, some courtesy lights, and a USB power supply.  I plan to install a Perco battery switch, and two buss bars for wiring any accessories. The boat is currently set up with a single battery, and I am debating whether to add a 2nd battery; 1 Starting and 1 accessory. The biggest power draw will be the marine radio, which will be the only accessory running after the motor is shut off. I can't imagine the radio running more than an hour, 2 hours tops, before starting the motor up again to leave the sandbar. Is that pushing the envelope for a single battery? Or should I be ok?

Thanks in advance.

[Blue Agave]

I believe one battery will be fine. Regarding the hose, you need to follow the hose to the other end. What is it connected to?  Should be a thru hull fitting of some type. You need to remove the hose and add a seacock, aka ball valve to prevent water from coming into the boat. If not you risk sinking.

[Capt. Bob]

I agree on the one battery. A deep cycle combo start and "house" will work fine. I run two batteries but both are combos meaning I start and run accessories off one all day long. Stuff like the VHF, depth sounder, GPS and live well wash down pump and do fine. I just switch between batteries each time I go out. Key is a battery in good condition that is maintained between trips with a good charger. Personally I like the two batteries for a sense of security when offshore or if spending several days on the boat. Still, I can't recall switching over for some time. Batteries have gotten much better for this style use over the years.

On the plumbing end, again I side with BA. If you are going to remove the hose, you need to secure the thru hull well enough to begin with so you don't need to mentally deal with it(sinking)while on the water. You most likely have a thru hull (drain) that has a barbed end to allow attachment of the drain hose. Yes, you could trim the hose and secure it up higher than the drain and even try and stick a plug in it. To mount a valve on the thru hull, you'll need to adapt the barbed end to a threaded end either by replacing the thru hull or using a section of the drain hose as a coupling and fitting a barbed end (male) with a threaded end (female). Add some hose clamps also. Not really the cleanest method in my mind so.....

I would suggest replacing the existing thru hull with one that has a threaded (rather than barbed) end. This most likely will be threaded with NPS(straight/parallel) threads as opposed to NPT(tapered). You can bed the new thru hull,trim the threads to reduce the length and then add a cap. Hard part here may be finding the correct threaded cap. Once properly completed though, it is a much neater looking install, confirms a good seal at the thru hull (they do leak over time) and only requires a quick look to confirm integrity.

Let me see what's out there.

Good luck.

PS.... This thread comes at a good time as we have another member with a similar hookup. Is it possible for you to post a couple more pics of your well and how it fills?

Thanks.