Source of Quality Skin Fittings/Through Hulls in Australia

[GILow]

Hello Cruisers,

I am about to replace all of the non-redundant skin fittings (through hulls) on our boat (and glass over the redundant holes) but I am struggling to find a local source of any of the reputable brands of fitting.

Whitworths have some ok looking bronze fittings, but unfortunately the word China stamped on the side of them is making me just a little nervous (it may be unjustified concern, but I have had trouble with Chinese metalurgy in the past and I just don't want to risk it with such critical components.)

I have read the threads on CF about the pros and cons of brands such as Groco, Spartan etc, all of these brands appeal to me for different reasons. However, I cannot find distributors of ANY of these better brands in Australia. I have googled lots and made many many phone calls, including to wholesalers, but with no luck. One of the wholesale distributors told me they no longer bring in one of the better brands as they were so pricey nobody was buying them. Well, I am less concerned about price and more concerned about staying afloat.

So can anyone point me at a distributor in Australia who carries a reasonable range of known quality skin fittings and seacocks, in the range of sizes from half inch through to 1.5 inch?

Failing that, an online distributor who you have found to be reliable and who is willing to send parcels internationally to Aus would certainly help.

Thank you,

Matt

[Wanderlust]

I feel comfortable buying fittings from Whitworths or BIAS and they are probably better than some of the stuff installed by manufacturers when new. If you still want to go for the Groco range, I have found Defender reasonable on price and the process is easy.

Discount Marine and Boat Supplies - Inflatable Sales - Defender

I have also bought from West Marine.

Boat Parts, Boat Accessories, Sailing Gear and Boating Apparel from West Marine

Just be aware that the US uses a different thread to the the BSP standard we use. So if you need to buy a replacement in the future, or need something to mate to one of your existing fittings you will have the same hassle of difficulty sourcing locally. For me that would be a deal breaker.

[Boracay]

I've a steel boat so I went with the TrueDesign plastic fittings (available from BIAS). They're well priced and have worked well.

It looks like your boat is Australian made so it was probably made with round through hulls with a ball valve (or gate valve - showing my age) screwed on with a hose tail screwed onto that.

I've ordered online from Defender and found them to be well priced and fast. Do keep your order under $AUD1000!

I can't see why the "proper" bronze seacocks are so desirable but if ordering them from OS then I'd buy the hose tails at the same time and check that they match.

[GILow]

Thanks guys, got me thinking.

Yes, round holes, didn't know there was any other type actually..

Still kind of torn on the whole bronze vs synthetic thing. So many good arguments for and against each, so much so that I am kind of at the stage of saying, OK, whichever GOOD QUALITY brand I can find will probably decide it for me.

You both mentioned BIAS boating so I will start there, and if that fails then Defender looks good. Thanks for the reminder about import duty threshold... I think (hope) it will all come out well under AU$1K (one boat buck? or is that 10 boat bucks? I don't know the conversion rate.)

Matt

[HopCar]

I'm a distributor for Groco and I ship to Australia often. If it can go by Priority Mail International the shipping is pretty reasonable.

If you would like to order something, send me an email for a quote. If you order it from my website it will add UPS charges which will be more than Priority Mail.

You can email me at hopcarmarine@yahoo.com

www.hopkins-carter.com

[GILow]

Thanks Hopcar, that's a well organised site too.

Matt

[mikewatson]

Classic Boat Supplies in Sydney Australia now carries Spartan Marine's range, including the seacocks. See their web site for details.

[JPA Cate]

GILow,

FWIW, our experience is that regular Post Office mail from the US and to Australia works best. There are also re-shippers in the US, which provide a US address for free-within-US postings, then re-pack, according to your communication with them, and ship them to you in whatever way you prefer. This service has worked well for us.

We have had some success with couriered items, but also some huge problems.

Ann

[Wotname]

I reckon the OP would have sorted his though hulls sometime in the past two years

[GILow]

Nah mate. I sunk!

:^)

Actually, it was a bit of an old thread but Ann's advice remains pertinent.


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