thru hull elimination

[telekitr]

Hey all. We are at the point in our refit where I have removed all the old thru hulls with the idea of replacement. So.........now is the time to think about the number of holes in the hull. Does anyone have any feedback on whether to keep the original design which basically had an opening for each sink outlet, toilet in, seawater in, engine in, cockpit scuppers out , shower sump out, and holding tank out..........lots of holes. I am thinking of perhaps combining some of the in's with a 3 way manifold-in that Groco offers, and perhaps a gray water tank that accepts all gray water from sinks, showers. Gray water would then be pumped out when we go out to sea rather than in a harbor or anchorage.........

Any feedback would be appreciated.
Thanks , Ernie

[Tim]

Do what makes you feel comfortable.

It's nice to have as few holes as possible, but you also have to consider how convoluted your plumbing might become if you try to combine too many things into too few through hull fittings.

A sea chest makes sense in a lot of situations, and is ultimately better than Christmas tree fittings that try to combine too many things into too small a space.

Combine what is convenient and what makes sense, and just ensure that you install your new fittings properly. Good fittings that are well-installed are not a liability, so don't let the reduction of through hulls drive all related decisions. But if you can easily and logically reduce the number of through hulls, it's a good thing too.

[Rachel]

I basically agree with Tim. I eliminated two through hulls on my A-30 just because thy were things I didn't intend to use. I kept the five that made sense for me and the boat's typical usage.

I did want to mention a couple things about a greywater sump as applies to the galley sink. On the one hand, having the sink drain straight overboard can be nice, as sink water can get/be a bit nasty; but if you do have a sump (especially on a smaller boat), you can then have a nice, deep galley sink without any worries about keeping it above the waterline (static or dynamic).

I've used a manual bilge pump connected with the sink drain (to an above-the-waterline through hull), but of course you could pump out the sump with an electric pump too.

Rachel

[telekitr]

Thanks for your inputs so far. I do agree with not storing stinky water in the boat Rachael. I think we are leaning towards keeping most of the existing holes. The good news is that I have managed to contort my body into all kinds of weird positions to remove all of the old seacocks, thru hulls and old backer plates.:))
Now comes cleanup, new G10 backer plates and bright shiny new bronze with handles that actually work.......oh how the little things make us feel so warm and fuzzy!
Ernie

[Bluenose]

I had a funny experience launching Bolero last fall. Typically when I launch and the boat first settles into the water I go below to check for leaks. Well Bolero doesn't even have cockpit drains so I stood proudly in the cockpit of my hole-less boat with a proper cocky attitude because I didn't have to go below to check for leaks.

Well my image of the perfect hole-less boat lasted less than 5 minutes as water started making it way in through the rudder shaft. Turns out I did have a hole in the boat after all.

And now the penance for my cockiness is one stubborn rudder fitting that refuses to budge and is preventing me from getting to the rudder packing.

[Ceasar Choppy]

One other thing you might want to consider is putting all the thru-hulls on one side of the boat. That way it makes it easier to locate the problem if there is one, and you can try and heel or beach the boat accordingly to try and mitigate the problem. I've just heard mention of this somewhere, but I won't vouch for its practicality.