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Drain Plugs


Wile E. Coyote

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This will seem like a simple question - but do you guys have drains in your boats? I mean in simple, open boats like Spindrifts. If you put an Anderson bailer in can you use that as a drain? I finished my Spindrift this spring, and used it quite a lot this year, but I didn't put in a bailer yet. It's on a trailer so I'd like to be able to wash it out while upright, but with no drain ...

Thanks,

Matt

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I never bothered with my Spindrift 9N, in part because I would need 2 of them and in part because I can pick the boat up and dump it out solo.  Long day sails were never going to be part of it and I could change my mind later if I wanted.    For my Lapwing I installed an Anderson bailer and use it both as a drain when on the trailer and to bail out while sailing.  

 

For a boat on a trailer I would definitely suggest you install one.  The other choice is a transom drain with plug like power boats.  You might as well get the sailing drain as well for your efforts.

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I'll echo Dave's suggestion to put a drain on any trailer boat.

I keep our dinghy on a trailer and there was one time (yes, only one) when I forgot to open the drain plug in the transom after using the boat.  There was, of course, a downpour that day here in the arid southwest and by the time I remembered the plug, the boat and trailer had tipped back like they were trying to get up on plane.  Fortunately all I had to do was take out the plug to let the bow back down to the ground.

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All boats need and should use a drain of some sort. Larger boats usually have a garboard drain, typically at the lowest point in the hull, but trailer boats usually have a transom drain, for obvious reasons. When the boat is parked (on it's trailer) it's left bow high, so any accumulated water can drain aft and out the drain.

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I always install a drain plug. Agreed that an Anderson bailer is good if you use one. For other boats, a regular "outboard" type transom drain plug works great. The usual installation requires a brass sleeve that goes through a 1 inch hole in the transom and is flared after after installation. This takes a special flaring tool. If you don't happen to have access to one, here are a few suggestions  

 

1. Cut the tube to a length that will project about an eighth of an inch through the hole. Rough the brass sleeve up well with sandpaper and epoxy it in place with a little fillet around the projection.

 

2. Use a section of p.v.c. pipe as a sleeve. Epoxy it in place. If I remember right, a 3/4 inch coupler has the right i.d. Better take the plug to the hardware store and see what fits.  

 

3. Drill an over sized hole in the transom and fill it with poxy putty and then drill this out to the right size.

 

The whole point is to be sure that the hole won't allow water into the transom. By-the-way, If your transom is only a layer of ply thick, then you'll need to poxy a 3/4 inch block in place where you will be installing the drain.

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I have an Anderson Bailer, purchased from B&B, installed very close to the center board well on my Spindrift 12. It works great until something like leaves, twigs, or acorns clog it up (typical of any boat drain). I too forgot to make sure it was open, then heavy snow deformed the tarp into a huge pocket, then it melted and I could tell what was happening, but by that time the boat had about a foot of water in it. It did not sit all winter this way as the tarp only failed due to a hole created as I was trying to get the snow and melt out. I did not know the drain was closed. Have I mentioned that I really hate working in icy cold water? :rolleyes:

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Thanks for these answers everyone. I'd intended to put the boat in the truck to move it around, and I would just tip it out to clean it. But that didn't really work out, I was getting boat injuries while getting it back out of the water so I got a trailer for it instead. The trailer has been great, just hook up and go. But that left me with an upright boat on a trailer with sand in it. I will install the bailer this winter, and if that doesn't work out for washing the boat then I'll put a transom drain in too. Our driveway is on a hill so I can move the boat until the bailer is at a low spot even when on the trailer.

What are your thoughts on bailer location? Right by the dagger board?

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Avoid installing the bailer in the turbulence that occurs after the board.   An Anderson Bailer located there (like mine) won't function as a bailer but still makes a good drain.   

I have never used the Anderson Bailer while sailing, rather only while towing which is with the center board completely up or out. The bailer is installed on the port side near the aft end of the well.

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Most plane hulls do well if the bailer is mounted somewhat off the centerline, aft of the case, so you'll use two, one for each tack. Ideally they need to be aft of the leading edge of the "plane patch", which is hard to determine without pictures of the boat screaming along on a beam reach, up on plane and cooking pretty good. A safe spot will be about a foot or so aft of the case and 6" - 7" on either side of the centerline. Turbulence from the keel batten and board slot will have reattached and the bailer should work well underway.

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Mine is located off-center to port, over-lapping the trunk which is to starboard.  It seems to work fine on both tacks, but then I haven't really used it much.

Hmmm, 2 bailers, 1 either side?  That would make draining on the trailer so much better even if not needed to avoid turbulence under sail.  I might have to do this Paul.  The problem is that I store my cooler where the 2nd one would go.

 

post-442-0-70300100-1478089182_thumb.jpg

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