Boat or Bathtub?

[Stump]

I'm taking it as a good sign...

I had to take the boat out from under the pavilion...err...boat shed to get it to the other side where my garden is or it would be stuck until fall. Last several days has seen heavy rain in the area and I have had to bail her out several times already. She holds water like a champ! I have 3 tarps covering her ( of course none is large enough to go from stem to stern) so I expected some water to get in but I've been negligent in putting them under tension and the water pools and, well you get the picture. :oops:

So far it hasn't gotten high enough to get into the lazarette area but I'm thinking I'm going to have to install a drain or get a bilge pump.

Cut and started the main sail today before the rain started. Couldn't get the luff and the foot to match up correctly so I split the difference. 'course I only had a 2 inch protractor so that made angle measurement interesting. That and the whole "v-dart" thing is a lot harder than it look on paper. Oh well, if this sail doesn't work I can always make another...or talk the spouse into letting me buy a set...hummmm :wink:

[Tim Diebert]

Maybe you could just cobble up a 2X4 ridge pole with some saw horse type legs down to the decks.

Once your sticks are done, they make for a terrific ridge pole to throw a tarp over.

I have to put a drain in my cockpit as well, just to be able to wash the boat down without bailing....

[capt jake]

I have to put a drain in my cockpit as well, just to be able to wash the boat down without bailing..

Did that last week for that very reason.

[Barry Pyeatt]

I saw a pretty neat setup for keeping things dry on a boat down in Edmonds at the marina. They had taken Schedule 40 PVC pipe and a bunch of fittings. They laid a long length from bow to stern down the centerline on top of everything. Then cut in X PVC fittings every roughly 16". They cut lengths to extend out at 90 degree angles to fit between the centerline and the rail of the deck and bent them into a half circle hoop. Tied them off at the rail and they had a frame that looked kinda like an inverted hull framework. They laid a tarp over it and fitted it to the frame and the outline of the boat with about a 12" skirt that extended below the rails on the sides and the transom and on both sides of the bow.

They used bungee cords to pull it down tight and it left just enough space around things for air to circulate but kept the cover elevated so no rain would collect on it anywhere. When the were ready to go they released the shock cords, pulled the cover off and rolled it up. Pulled the PVC frame apart and put the pieces in a bag and they were ready to go.

I was talking to one of the yard people there and he said that they had put the frame together in about an hour and then fitted and assembled the cover from a white poly tarp and white duct tape in about another hour and a half. Then they punched grommets all around and they were essentially done. They used standard bungee cords of various lengths to secure it.

He said it has held up thru all the wind, rain and snow that has fallen and never come loose.

Sounded and looked like a pro job to me because it was so neatly done, but he said they just used scissors and marking pens to lay out the tarp and cut it to conform.

I don't think I would go down the road with it, but for in the yard storage and keeping things dry, it looks like a good idea to me. Also allowed for air circulation the way they had it held off of the rails a bit as well as off the transom.

[Frank Hagan]

I finally added a drain to Aslan. I decided to buy a dinghy transom drain, which included a 3/4" plug, threaded fitting with three screws to secure it, and a tube with flange to be inserted into the hole. I drilled the hole off to starboard to miss the keel. I'll try to get some pics of it this weekend (just got back from a business trip, and I'm exhausted! I actually worked on this one!)

[Tim Diebert]

I'd like to see that Frank.

[Stump]

Has anybody put in the drain like they have on the plans? If I remember right it went through the keel? Thoughts?

[Barry Pyeatt]

I think it would be easy to do when laying up the keel. A little more of a challenge when it is all finished. Mostly in fear of misalignment.

A forstner bit with a jig to align the drill would do the trick quite easily, provided you didn't hit any nails or screws along the way. :shock: That would be my biggest concern.

The actual installation of the PVC drain or copper if you choose to do that instead wouldn't be all that involved. Just bed it in epoxy in a slightly larger than needed hole. Say a 1 1/2" hole for a 1 1/4" drain. No danger of water getting into the surrounding material that way.

I'm planning on doing it right at the bulkhead in the cockpit. A grate will cover it so it won't be in the way and still lift out to open it when it is on the trailer.

Or at least that is the plan.

[tomstock]

I put two 3/4" plastic drains in also. One in the cockpit near the bulkhead, and one in the cabin near the hull panel joint. They cost me $3 each at west marine. I just drilled a hole, coated it liberally with epoxy, then after it cured, I used 5200 and glued the drains in.

BTW: I run a rope from the bow to the stern and then put crutches under each end (actually milk crates) to lift it up off the deck. I lay some small boards against the rope here and there to keep the tarp from sagging into the cockpit, and then throw two tarps over it and weight them down at the ground. Worked like a champ for a year until the tarps became too weathered to keep water out. One tarp didn't work.... two was the magic number... the cancels out pin holes, etc.

[tdrown]

I'm adding a gutter on my recently enlarged seat-top hatch and I am adding a bilge pump with an auto-float switch. I'll post more on it once I finish it, which may be as soon as this weekend.

[Tim Diebert]

Barry. Thayt is basically what I had in mind as well. But I would add one thought.

I keep my boat next to the shop in basically the same spot all the time. This spot generates a slight list to stbrd, so that is the side of the cockpit sole that my drain will be on. Perhaps your storage area may have an advantageous side of the cockpit...?

I have also bookmarked a particular drain unit that has a nice flush fitting plug. In Westmarine catalogue.

Tom...you glued two through hulls into your boat?

tdrown, this is also something I had considered. I don't know where you got your idea (presumably out of you own noodle), it seems to me that our late builder Graeme of Snoopy had posted some images of that exact setup. Very clever me thinks.

For me, the downside would be the loss of that small angular area just under the bridge deck. I make very good use of that spot now and it would not be easy to give it up. :?

[Dave R1]

I've been thinking about a bilge pump after last Saturday's adventure in the rain. One thought I've had is to use a drill-powered pump. It could be run with a cordless drill and could either be mounted to the cabin bulkhead or not mounted at all.

I like the idea of a drain but have concluded that I would need several. The boat never seems to get parked in exactly the same place twice and the ground there is not flat. Sometimes the water pools at the front of the cockpit, sometimes along the side.

What I really need is a waterproof cover and what I really want is a large building in which the boat can be stored when not in use. In fact I'd love to have the roof be high enough that I could set up the mast indoors.

My boat doesn't seem to get much water in it when I'm sailing unless it is raining, too.

[Tim Diebert]

What I really need is a waterproof cover and what I really want is a large building in which the boat can be stored when not in use. In fact I'd love to have the roof be high enough that I could set up the mast indoors.

I always thought the way the sticks stow on these boats was very cool for many reasons....but making a great ridge pole for a good tarp is high on the list. I can have that cover on or off in less than a minute. I buy a new tarp every year otherwise it won't keep the water out. Lately I have been holding down the sides of the tarp with old paint cans on the end of a short bungee. I had been doing some painting and wanted the water to run off to the ground rather than down the side of the boat. They worked so well I use them on both sides all the time. It might look a little white trash for some of our upwardly mobile 8) but it suits me, as it is quick as hell.....and I am white trash.

My boat doesn't seem to get much water in it when I'm sailing unless it is raining, too.

Man, you are just not sailing it hard enough!

[Dave R1]

Tim, the problem is that I'm just not sailing enough!

The cover I have is canvas and although one would think it would keep the water out of the boat, it doesn't. I'm not sure what to waterproof it with since The Mining (3M) pulled Scotchguard from the market.

Actually, I want to come up with a different cover for trailering as this one really bites into fuel economy. Unfortunately our one local boat cover maker doesn't have a great deal of imagination. On the other hand, I don't have a sewing machine with the "T. fortitude" to handle canvas.

We were looking at one of those shelters with the white polytarp roof and metal frames. Menard's had a big enough one for $99. That's not a whole lot more than buying just a tarp.