Shouldn't this Drain to the Bilge?

[hriehl1]

1968 Hinterhoeller HR 28.

I was hosing out the interior for some seriously-needed cleaning. All my spraying found its way into the bilge except one area.

The photo shows a small hold under the very front of the V-Berth and below the anchor locker (which drains into it). This hold collects and holds water (rather than draining further aftward down the keel-line into the bilge as I expected).

Does this seem right? The anchor locker drains into this hold so my instinct says anchor lines bring in water, the boat should get that water to the bilge.

I have poked and poked the aft crotch of this hold with a stiff thin rod thinking a drainageway must be blocked, with no success. After sponging out the water, I got in there with a flashlight and see no apparent drainageway. It appears sealed solid. I'm stumped.

I can drill a hole low in the aftside bulkhead of this hold to provide a drainageway... water will (I think) flow beneath the plywood sole of the freshwater tank hold directly aft of this hold down the keel-line into the bilge (I think).

But before I drill a hole that cannot be un-drilled... I'm looking to others for a sanity check. Shouldn't an anchor line locker drain all the way into the bilge?

[Rachel]

I can't speak to the Hinterhoeller directly, but I can say that I have seen quite a few boats in this size range that have "dead" pockets in that area (i.e. no limber holes and no way to drain to the bilge).

I don't think this is the only reason, but two of the boats that pop into my head for examples right now have a built in water tank under the v-berth. Of course one can still make a way for water to drain to the bilge, but it would have been more labor intensive for the builder.

I'm not saying that means it's the best way to arrange things; but it's not just your boat.


Rachel

[Quetzalsailor]

Drill the limber hole. Nice and big. Big enough to not readily plug with stuff, but more particularly, big enough for your finger.

Why your finger? You have plywood bulkheads and you'll want to coat out the bore with filled epoxy. Filled epoxy, as opposed to neat, so that you can fill the inevitable gap between plywood and the hull.

Of course you can undrill the hole: filled epoxy and a smidge of 'glass.

[Rachel]

That said, if you do drill a limber hole, where will the water go? Will it "dead end" somewhere due to a built in tank or etc.? Will it flow right through a locker where you stow dry things? What's under that section that appears to be a locker bottom just aft of (but above the bottom of) the anchor locker?

I'm all for drainage and ventilation, don't get me wrong. It's just that before I simply took a drill to it, I would want to see if there was a "good" reason why this was not done in the first place. It might be the case that you need to make a few more arrangements for drainage (i.e. a channel or hose or something). Maybe you can just drill a limber hole, but.... I would investigate the potential path of water draining to the bilge through it first.

Rachel

[earlylight]

The anchor locker aboard my Sabre 34 is a totally sealed compartment and there is a 5/8 inch drain hole from the starboard aft lower corner thru the hull so all water in the anchor locker drains overboard. Would it be possible to seal the anchor locker on your boat with epoxy and glass tabbing and add a drain hole? Just a thought.

[Curmudgeon]

I'd be reluctant to have anchor-line water draining into the bilge - there's going to be seaweed, mud, critters, and foul-smelling water coming off the rode. That is, if there's any alternative. My boat has an unobtrusive drain right on the centerline of the bow, but it's high enough that bow waves (typically) won't splash in through the drain. If water does work it's way in, the locker bottom is sloped towards the drain.

[Idon84]

The only thing I built without a drain to the bildge is my anchor locker for the same reasons Curmudgeon mentioned.

[Quetzalsailor]

I think a chain locker that drains overboard would be dandy, far better than one that dribbles down through the boat. That said, I doubt that I'd want a drain overboard, no drain to bilge, a hawse, a ventilator, and a large interior hatch. A drain overboard, a deck hatch, hawse and vent would be fine. That sealed chain locker's bulkhead would need to be 'impervious' and could be arranged to be strong enough to serve as a collision bulkhead; of course, that would be happier on a cutter or otherwise with the forestay chainplate aft of the bulkhead.

Quetzal's chain locker drains to the bilge and the bulkhead has a huge hinged door in it.

All this subject is of interest to me; we've bought a Maxwell RC8 anchor winch, and a new chain-spliced-to-braided-rope rode and no doubt I'll be begging for the wisdom of the Forum to install it correctly. Initial reading of the instructions (imagine!) says that Maxwell is adamant about the perfection of the fair lead from roller to chainwheel. I fear compromises coming up!