Replacement cockpit drains - Take Two

18-19 July 2014

I don't think I mentioned this before, so....

The small brass fittings I installed about two seasons ago (here) were really too small.  After making a big deal out of putting them in, I decided to replace them with the very idea I have been advising other H25 owners to do for many years.

The original H25 drains were RC Marelon through-hulls straight out the back wall of the cockpit-- necessitating that water either climb up the 5/8" threshold to flow out or else stay in the cockpit pan.  I installed the little brass drains in the sole itself, fitted them with 90-degree elbows and though them good enough.  After consulting with my friend Roland (SV Moonshine) about his solo Atlantic crossing, I decided too big can never be big enough.

The fix I have been long suggesting for this entails the fitting of a rigid fiberglass tube straight out the very bottom corner of the cockpit pan through the transom.  In what has to be the most productive two two-hour work sessions I have ever had on this boat (even in the face of predicted rain), I drilled the holes, bedded these into place, removed the old ones and filled and faired the old holes.  I did one one day and one the next, after a full day of work each time.  It impressed even myself!

 

Here's the view from the cockpit.  The tubes are 1" inside, 1-1/4" outside diameter, pressed fiberglass, ordered from McMaster-Carr.  It was about $21 for one 60-inch piece, which, cut in half, fit perfectly for this application.  I deliberately made the cut on an angle, twisting each tube in its hole in order to fill the corner (shorter side inboard).  Bedded in 5200 and faired with WEST epoxy and Microlight, they look like they were molded there.

 

At the transom I allowed the excess length to just stick out and, when the epoxy had dried, cut them shorter with a hacksaw and used the orbital sander to smooth them over.  This picture doesn't show it so well, but the factory's installation wasn't symmetrical-- one old hole (filled as of this picture) will appear closer to the new tube than the other side.  I just eyeballed the site from above, applied a ruler and made them lead  out parallel to the centerline, straight aft from the corners of the cockpit pan.

The green tape covers the HIN.  I got some epoxy into it a while ago and decided to preclude any more messing it up.

The other two through-hulls are the Marelon ones I installed for the bilge pumps.

 

Looking under the cockpit the downward angle and parallel leads are seen clearly.  The duct tape is part of one of my 'mooyock' solutions for filling holes.  When the old through-hulls were taken out (with hammer and chisel), I taped over the holes in the inside and made up 'communion wafers' of fiberglass to stuff into the voids from the outside with epoxy.  Why try to fill a hole that's overhead or angled so that the epoxy will only dribble out?

This isn't a great view of it, but below the tubes is a little floor I installed aft of the low bulkhead in the foreground.  This low bulkhead, a little higher than the waterline, will contain water from any rudder-post leaks in the event of a rudder strike (which should be high on the list of any sailor's worst nightmares).  A small hole, here seen stained in epoxy, is fitted with a brass tube which will accommodate one of those little rubber transom-drain plugs.  It's not the most secure arrangement; but it's much better than having nothing at all in the event of this happening, for which Stephen Dashew says your best scenario is to crack the rudder blade.  Any other possibility involves catastrophic damage to the hull-- and, with your average production spade-rudder boat, probably the end of your voyage.

 

This pic, with the fuel tank in place, shows the upper end of the cockpit-drain tube.  With the little brass things in place, there had to be an elbow over the back edge of the tank that seriously complicated attaching fuel hoses and intruded on space for removing the tank.  Now this is practically structural-- no worries for stuff in the lazzarette weighting down the drain hoses till they fail or pop off.

(The dark spot on the tank is an old epoxy spill, not a leak or any damage.  This tank has been kicking about this boat for very long, getting dusty and spilled-upon, and only now (September) is is finally in its place for good.  Of course I've kept all the openings well taped-up!)

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The crucial duty of the compression post.

A Hunter owner asked me about rebuilding his compression post; and my comments on the Hunter Owners Web in response are probably worth something; so here they are--

http://forums.hunter.sailboatowners.com/showthread.php?p=996161#post996161

And here are some pics that go with it--

 

This is what Hunter gave H30 owners-- it is NOT a compression post.  This is the view looking through the bilge.  Apparently this corroded object purports to support a piece of mahogany, which supports a piece of aluminum, which supports the plywood sole, which supports a teak block of some kind-- and all of it transmitting the load to precisely the wrong place-- the top of the keel.


Here is my post; and below is how it is supported.

The pic below shows Diana's bilges before I installed the sole (half of it is in place to starboard). Thejoists are all 5/4 mahogany, cut and fit to the hull and bonded with 5200; the post stands on a doubled one abaft the main bulkhead. Note that none of them are in contact with the actual bottom of the hull. The goal was to spread each one's load to as much surface area as possible. Note the limber holes and bilgewater spaces, access for keel bolts, and the central joist having cleats to accommodate the leg of the drop-leafed table (looks like a tripled joist). The part on top of the can that looks like 2/3 of a joist goes in the head compartment.

The electric bilge pump goes in the space farthest aft in this view.  The manual pump's pickup goes in the farthest forward space in the main cabin.

Under each settee is a water tank and a house battery, so all this weight goes here, not to the ends. The red and yellow wires tie the batteries together as one bank.  The orange wire is for the voltmeter.  These will be restrained in fairleads later.

The PVC freshwater manifold (second big space from bottom) connects the two tanks, one under each bunk.  Unfortunately the head sink will feed from only the port one.  There are independent shutoffs, port and starboard.  The valve to the back is the drain, so either tank can be selected to either drain or supply the galley sink.  The black thing is a particle strainer.  Under the galley sink goes a proper cartridge filter.

The hull drain has since been added, under the tanks' drain.  It is removable from inside-- the better to facilitate inspection and maintenance (and to streamline the underbody).

The brown dirt is pretty much bonded into the spilled epoxy and will have to be sanded off and painted in Bilgekote.

 

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Custom cooler

This is my really cool customized camping cooler for Diana.

Here shown holding what it usually does-- iced tea-- is the interior of the cooler as I modified it.  The divider is Plexiglass left over from the cabin windows.  It slides down into place between Starboard fiddles mounted in 5200 (to seal the screw holes so water doesn't get into the foam core; it does not stick to Starboard).  The side corners are cut out to let water reach the drain fitting, a plastic one I installed in the forward end.  The drain deposits its dribble into a PVC receptacle in the floor of this compartment which in turn carries the dribble forward into the bilge.  The drain in the cooler is cut off flush with the bottom so the cooler will sit level (and thus structurally sound) on a flat surface like the dock.

Beyond the divider Starboard fiddles hold a grilled shelf for smaller items.  The bagged ice goes under the grill.  (This cooler is not big or strong enough to hold a full block.  Nevertheless, with a plug in the drain it will hold some residue of ice-- not merely cold water-- for 5 days.)  With this configuration, there is a place that remains free of ice cubes to hold taller things, like full gallons of water or iced tea, wine bottles, etc.  The smaller stuff goes above the ice in back.

The grill is a leftover section from the light baffle material I got when installing a work light in my mother's kitchen.  It is not very strong and was annoying to cut, as a jigsaw only shattered it and a bandsaw did only a little less damage.  I resorted to cutting it by hand with a very fine hacksaw blade.  Of course the sides are not parallel, due to the cooler's shape, and the back edge is slightly rounded.  And then there is the issue of ensuring that the square holes, when cut through, allow enough support along the fiddles.  As can be seen I got it aligned so that one long strake rides on each side fiddle.

The cooler is not a 'marine'-spec one but a standard Coleman '5-day' campers'-spec one.  The marine ones all have top hinges along the side.  As seen here Diana needs one hinged from the end-- or, as here, not at all.

The cooler sits under the ladder; its top is covered by the bottom step (which I personally never use, as I step on the quarter berth edge when entering or leaving the cockpit).  This step is hinged at the back.  I do not yet have it rigged but I want to have a Fastpin slid through the ladder side(s) to hold up the step.  Then one can lift the cooler lid without having to hold up the weight of the step.  The step does not protrude far enough beyond the upper one to allow anyone to accidentally step on it and break it or bend the Fastpin.  If it's pinned up, you will see there is no step below (or just the cooler lid) and step onto the quarter berth instead.

The pencil scribble on the not-yet-painted right side (left in photo) is marking where the recessed red LED footlight will go.  With the step and lid down, it illuminates the step.  With the step up, it illuminates the cooler.

The heavy fiddles screwed to the sides support the step, which is 1/2" plywood with a 3/4" step plate epoxied to the front edge.  It was varnished about 7 years ago with Captain's Varnish and is still holding up well.

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Cockpit drains

Hunter, in their infinite wisdom (read that: attempts to save money) devised a simple way to install cockpit drains in the back of the H25 cockpit.  I really cannot fault this too much because they spared the cockpit sole itself from the potential for damage; and indeed my 38-year-old balsa-cored cockpit floor is one of the soundest parts of the boat.  But by installing the through-hulls through the vertical after bulkhead of the cockpit they kept much of the water from running out.  You always had to sponge out the last 1/2" or so while people stood towards the rear of the boat to get it all to run down to the drains.

This was something I meant to remedy from the start.  I found some nylon drains by Starboard East (that's the brand name) having a flattened side, meant to go in a vertical bulkhead down low to the floor; but they are nylon and subject to UV-exposure damage and stems' cracking and this is not a place one wants to risk that.  After searching high and low I found what the plumbing guy called 'bar-sink drains', at 1 inch diameter (though I have 'bar-sink drains' in the head and galley sinks and they are 'standard' at 2 inches).  They are rugged, heavy brass, but not stainless-steel and will go green unless I paint them.

Here is the mess I started with.  In this photo the starboard drain has already been chopped out.  I left the port side one for later as the boat on its stands is sort of tilting to that side and rainwater will have to go somewhere.  I had once removed the old Marelon (nee RC Marine) through-hulls and rebedded them with 5200 to stop leaks when I first got the boat.  Now I just hacked them out with a chisel.

The flange itself, now separated from the stem, is standing next to the hole.

All the tools used are in the picture!

The next step was to fill the hole.  Here are shown the 'communion wafers' of fiberglass to be used for the fill.  I used about six of these for each hole. These are of 1708 biaxial, because it was what was available.  For a small job like this really any 'glass will do.  I would not use cloth alone; but if you had at least most of it done in plain mat it would be fine.




The smaller ones are for the other holes in the cockpit getting filled at the same time. (Yes; I used the one with the bite out of it.  It doesn't matter.)



My simple 'mooyock' system for this is to apply duct tape to the back or harder-to-get side (the outside of the hull, for example) and to fill from the front or upper side.  Why make life hard on yourself?


This photo shows the power of 5200-- the gash to the left of the hole itself is from the through-hull's parting from the 'glass and its 5200 taking some 'glass with it.

Here is a close-up of the port-side hole before filling.  Apparently I missed a little with the duct tape (doing it by feel with arm down port-side seat locker).

Here is the port-side hole filled.  This-- like all the rest of these holes about the cockpit-- will get sanded and faired with Microlight before Epoxy Primekote and paint.

There is nothing wrong with overfilling it, so long as it's with 'glass.  A patch like this is easy to sand flush and it's reassuring knowing you've got solid material completely filling the hole.

As ever proper preparation is key.  Scrub the back and front sides with sandpaper and clean thoroughly with acetone before mixing up your resin & hardener.


The holes in the bulkhead above were from something the PO or the factory had here.  I really don't remember.  The smaller one is the lower drain hole of the port-side seat locker's drain, which I eliminated when I made the replacement drain trough (which now only uses the upper hole).

In this photo the right side (to the left) is already done (more or less) and the left side is to be filled.  Some days passed between these stages, to allow for a weather window which would let the port one cure before rain might leak through the cover.

You can see how Hunter's money-saving scheme for these did not include ensuring that they were mounted symmetrically.

The ugly patched place to port is from where the PO had installed his bilge pump's Auto-Off-Manual switch-- right into the bulkhead, without sealant, and without cognizance of what happens when these electrical things get wet.  In this photo it's been filled with 'glass and begun to be faired with Microlight.

The big round hole to starboard is for the Whale manual bilge pump.

 
Here are the drains newly installed.

These nifty little fittings came with very good flanged nuts for the other side.  (I did not use the rubber gaskets.)  The surface-mount flanges are not too thick-- certainly much thinner than the flanges of normal nylon or Marelon through-hulls would be.  When I drilled out these holes I was relieved to find that they would miss all the balsa, which starts about an inch or two forward of the holes, and would go through solid 'glass.  It did occur to me that I might rout out the 'glass to set the flanges flush; but what tool would I use for that in this tight corner and how would I get them smooth and level enough?  I have lately decided I will mask these off and fill the space behind them and around to the outboard edges with Microlight, so as to keep water from pooling against the edges of the flanges.  Though I set these in with 5200 I did not get as much 'ooze-out' as I would have liked.  Most of it is between the stem and the hole I drilled for each one, where it should be.


My yardmate Roland made a very good point that these 1-inch drains are probably too small for offshore work.  I don't expect to do much sailing far offshore in this boat; and boats with cockpit drains of this size or worse have done successful passages.  But his point is well taken; and once I have fewer tasks in front of me I may look to replacing or adding to these with larger ones.  My choice of size for these was governed by only the existing transom fittings; but they could be changed too.

After discussing with him I did decide I will not install check-valves in these lines.  They are almost straight runs and are subject to pooping from heavy water directly aft, which would lead to not only water shooting into the cockpit but the water already in the cockpit not going out.  But the check-valves would further restrict water flow.  The H25 is pretty buoyant aft and would probably rise away from heavy swells; but who is to say what happens in such conditions?  People with experiences about cockpit flooding at sea are encouraged to comment!


I don't have a photo of the underside, but the Marelon elbows I meant for the bilge-pump outlets screwed onto these brass fittings perfectly (with plenty of Teflon thread-seal tape) and I was able to hook them up using the old hoses.  I did, however, wait for the 5200 to fully cure (about a week).  Shields no.148 hose can be a monster to fight on and off; and experience has shown it is strong enough to work loose the 5200 on recently-bedded fittings and through-hulls.  So-- proceed gently, with patience.

I reused one of my old hoses for this (just temporarily) but found the other was too short.  I hacked off a piece from the (as-yet) unused bilge-pump lines, not measuring very well as I was doing all this from lying inside the starboard-side locker, and got it almost too short again.  For now one clamp is sufficient; but these will all be done properly before the boat goes in.


The very dusty state of this cockpit is due to its being prepared for Epoxy Primekote and paint.  The nonskid of the sole did come off with scraping from a chisel; but it is adhered really well and since I don't need to bed down any more hardware to the sole I may only rough it up enough to take the Primekote and paint over it.  The same goes for the deck/cabintop.

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