Your CD's

[Guest Joe Nelson]

I must compliment you on the CD's you offer to suppliment your plans. It (core sound) in itself answers a lot of questions.

Is the guy around that built the white 17'er with the nice bright finished deck and interior from NC? Just wondering how the self bailer worked out for him. Its about the only detail I dont care for on his boat. 6 screws sticking up through the cockpit floor. But I would like to know how that bailer worked out for him...if possible.

joe_nelson22@hotmail.com

[Greg Luckett]

I am wondering about this now too.

Yeah, I know. I am a slow reader.

[Designer]

Joe,

He has not been up on the forum yet.

As you know, I think that the bailers are the greatest thing since sliced bread and would not have a small boat without one. The bailer is positioned just under the center thwart, out of toe stubbing range but close enough for the helmsman to reach. You could trim the bolts to length to make it look neater.

[Aaron_G]

So, how does that self bailer work anyway?

[Designer]

The self bailer has an opening door with the opening facing aft. When travelling at 3 knots or more it sucks the water out of the boat. It has a nice neoprene gasket that seals the door when closed and the closing mechanism has a cam lock for a positive closing. It does not leak when closed. There is a flap that nearly stops the water from back flooding when stopped, the trick is to close it when you are averaging less than 3 knots. You definitely don't need it when going slow.

I allso like it when the boat is on the trailer as it is near the lowest point of the boat and will drain even the heaviest downpour.

I have towed a Spindrift 10 in heavy weather with the bailer open and it keeps the boat empty from driving spray.

[JeffM]

I wonder if my boat is out of shape: water in the bilge tends to slosh around near the fore end of the cb trunk, and if I want the last bit of water to drain, I have to call all hands aft, and maybe even sit on the aft deck. On the other hand, a level on the seat top shows the boat to float level when rigged but empty. One major annoyance with my bailer is the sand that inevitably grates in it as we raise and lower it. (We sail to and from beaches more often than docks; I've gotten VERY fastidious about sand coming aboard, but have never been totally sand-free).