Man did we ever get wet today.

[wkisting]

I would have liked a motor so I could drop the sails and make a bee line for the docks but I had to depend on my sailing skills which are lacking.  None the less I am begining to love the sport and can't wait until I build my own.  I'm glad I am doing this because its helping me decide what I want from a boat.

Actually, one place where Ray and I probably agree about motors is that a motor can prevent you from developing proper sailing skills if you let it, so it may be a good thing that you're starting out without a motor and being forced to hone those skills. We deliberately try never to use our motor except for when we are on a time crunch and have to get off the lake immediately. Otherwise, the motor can become a dependence and you never learn to sail in frustratingly light airs because you're always firing up the "iron wind" to get you through. That's a nasty habit that will keep your sailing skills from developing beyond mediocre, and may be dangerous if your motor ever quits at the wrong time and you don't know how to sail clear of a danger without it.

I have two bailers., one on each side of the CB trunk.  They dont seem to work the way that I have heard them described on the forum.  I get the boat going and i'll open them up but I cant see them sucking the water out.  I think I hve the boat going fast enough to create the drop i pressue but I'm not sure.  Am I doing it right?

I don't know if the bailers literally "suck" the water, but there is a small tornado/whirpool effect and a gurgling that sounds a lot like sucking as the water goes out. Of course, the bailer has to be open, the boat has to be traveling at least 3 mph (in our case, closer to 4 mph), and the water has to be moving toward/over the bailer opening. We use a small shower scraper/squeegee to sweep bilge water toward the bailer (some of it collects a little further forward, but we mounted our bailer under the mizzen thwart to protect it from kicks and bumps). As soon as the water reaches the opening, it rotates and sweeps out through the hole swiftly, making that gurgling noise. It probably evacuates about a cup of water per second, maybe a little more. You can definitely see a small puddle of water move out the bailer quickly.

[Hirilonde]

I don't know if the bailers literally "suck" the water, but there is a small tornado/whirpool effect and a gurgling that sounds a lot like sucking as the water goes out.

Actually, they do.  They work in a similar manner to how sails work when going to weather.  The water in the case of the bailers, and the wind in the case of the sails rushing past creates a partial vacuum.

[wkisting]

That explanation makes good sense. I just didn't want to imply that the bailer can "suck" water in from a distance, like a vaccuum cleaner can do. The water has to make contact with the opening of the bailer. So if water puddles or runs elsewhere in the hull, it will need to be pushed toward the bailer opening. As soon as it reaches the bailer, it will indeed be "sucked" out if the boat is moving 3+ mph and the bailer is open. If the boat is moving slower than 3 mph or so, the open bailer instead becomes a leaking hole that will take on water.

[Ray Frechette Jr]

Of course putting on my techno geek hat on there is no sucking anywhere.  What is happening is that atmospheric pressure is pushing the water form an area of higher concentration to a lower pressure.

If one side is a vacuum, you can never suck anything over from it as you can not lower pressure below a vacuum.

So technically the higher pressure is pushing rather than the vacuum sucking.

Just like you can not add cold to a system,  you can only take away heat.

[Guest Dennis M]

My bailer works at 5.5 mph. Must be nice to have it work at lower speeds. Come to think of it, my CS 15 rarely goes slower than 6. You guys must be slacking! :grin:

[Gordy Hill]

I have found that if I leave the bailer open when I come to a stop it really sucks.....

[Joel B]

I've already had it suck Gordy's way.  The first time I launched the boat (right after I bought it) in april the bailers were open and it took me a while to figure out why I was getting swamped.  I havn't trusted them since

[John Turpin]

I know that it really sucks when you kick a closed bailer with bare toes.

[Hirilonde]

Of course putting on my techno geek hat on there is no sucking anywhere.  What is happening is that atmospheric pressure is pushing the water form an area of higher concentration to a lower pressure.

If one side is a vacuum, you can never suck anything over from it as you can not lower pressure below a vacuum.

So technically the higher pressure is pushing rather than the vacuum sucking.

Just like you can not add cold to a system,  you can only take away heat.

You can argue this until you are blue in the face.  In fact, both are occuring simultaniously.  A place of lesser pressure wants to draw things into itself to equalize the pressure with adjacent higher pressure areas.  A place of higher pressure wants to expel something for the same reason. 

suck

It isn't the same as heat at all.  Though you are correct in saying that there is no such thing as cold.

[wkisting]

I don't think Joel cares if the bilge water sucks, pushes, or blows... as long as it leaves. 

[PAR]

Bilge water always blows, especially if your have to manually suck it out.

[Scott Dufour]

After 15 years teaching physics, my eyebrows got raised on this one:  Blue face or not, Ray's right.  Only warm flat beer sucks.  We techno-geeks have our standards!

[PAR]

Only warm flat beer sucks.

Not if you're a Brit and/or an alcoholic.

[Scott Dufour]

That's what 1776 was really all about!  It wasn't "No Taxation Without Representation".  It was "No Intoxication Without Refrigeration".

[PAR]

This is the only thing I miss about my ex-wife. In a pinch or when in England, I could hold my beer against one of her feet or next to her heart, which was a fair substitute for refrigeration.

[Jeff MacDonald]

Wow, that was harsh. Not saying you were wrong; you'd be the best judge of that. But harsh.

[i got punched in the kidney when my first mate looked over my should to see what I was laughing about. The above is my penance.]  :-)

[PAR]

Sorry about your kidney Jeff. If you knew my ex-wife, you could hug her just right and it would help the swelling go down faster  .  .  .