Thru-hulls and bilge discharge (Coronado 25)

[BubbleheadMd]

Some of my boat's drain systems confuse me.

There is a tube that goes from one drain (or pair of drains?) in the aft of the
cockpit directly downward, through the bottom of the boat. 'Glassed in place, no valve. You can only see it by looking into the keel hollow under the cockpit, on the centerline of the boat. I had to remove the companionway laddery to look in there. I'm told it's probably for the knotmeter. Maybe so.

The cockpit drain on the forward, starboard side has a thick, black
radiator-looking hose that connects to a small metal thru-hull valve that has no handle. It appears to have a small square where a removeable handle would attach so that you could operate the valve.

The sink/icebox drain thru-hull has such a handle. I wonder if it removes and
swaps between the two? Either way, in this frigid weather, I won't be testing
them.

I don't know where the bilge originally discharged, but I followed the remnants
of the discharge tube all the way back to the outboard engine well. I'm pretty
sure that's not right, but I guess it doesn't harm anything to pump it out
there. I can't/won't re-route it through a thru-hull while the boat's in the water this winter.

Man...the PO had the wiring and the discharge tube running up through the
grab-hole in the keel access panel for all to step on and trip over. The bilge pump was such a tiny thing. Barely adequate for de-watering a standing puddle, and useless for damage control. I'm installing a 1500 GPH Rule pump. That's 25 GPM, probably more like 20 GPM when pumping through a 6' head of tubing. That should pump a full bilge clear in 1-2 minutes. The discharge and the wiring have been re-routed through the keel hollow, out of the way as originally intended.

Excellent progress today.

[fordo]

The cockpit drains should discharge through the hull above the waterline. Their thru-hulls generally do not have valves on them. The same is true for the bilge pump. When I leave my boat I close all the through hulls that are below the waterline(engine, sink, head, etc.) The cockpit and bilge must drain whether I am there or not, therefore, they discarge above the waterline so a break in the hose will not sink the boat.

[BubbleheadMd]

Lol..Fordo, stop applying logic to my 40-year old boat.

I recently discovered the plans for my boat and indeed, the cockpit does drain through a thru-hull below the waterline by design. Scary huh?

[mitiempo]

While some cockpit drains do drain above the waterline, most drain below the waterline. Most have valves of some kind on them, but some don't. Some manufacturers have just glassed in tubes to the hull and the bottom of the cockpit well. Do you have drains visible in the cockpit above or near the tube?
A bilge pump should always be above the waterline. Usually on the transon or the side very near the transom. The outboard well would be ok if it drains over the side and is walled off from the rest of the boat. The bilge pump should be fine, but with a 6' head you're probably down by half.

[BubbleheadMd]

The original plans call for the bilge discharge to be T'd to the black cockpit drain hose. I think at some point, several thru-hulls were 'glassed over and the remaining two were replaced. The bilge discharge was run over to the engine well.

The engine well is down low, but the discharge was at or just above the waterline as you recommend. Luckily, the pump isn't pumping UP 6' of head, it's basically horizontal.

[silverbranch]

My cockpit drains also go out the bottom of the boat. I was pretty astonished to see that. Here is a photo: (yes, I plan to replace the gate valves, and no, I wasn't the idiot that put a grappling hook anchor in there! And yes, I took it out :-)

[mitiempo]

silverbranch
Most boats have the cockpit drains exiting below the waterline. Nothing wrong with it if done right. And yes, I'd replace the gate valves. I once owned a Westerly 25 built in 1967. They built good boats but like many are now long gone.

[HelpNeededCorondo25]

Hi there,

I am reading up on how to work everything on a boat i just bought, in addition to fixing all kinds of things. problem is there is a STEEP learning curve as I am not very talented in fixing things.... and i have never lived on a sailboat or sailed before. First things first. Any recommendations on clearing a slow draining cockpit? I have a dog so i fear dog hair is making the cockpit drain slow. I tried to aim a hose down the drain and the water was so backed up it took significantly longer than i think it should to drain. I need to replace the drain covers so other foreign material doesn't get in the drain lines.

Also, water gathering under there seat in the cockpit? Possibly from a bad seal? That is my guess.

Thanks for your help!

[dabnis]

I had a Coronado 25 built in 1967, I think. Bought it in 1970, sold in 1980. This is all from memory. I don't think anything was changed from the original factory configuration when we bought it. The sink and ice box drains were T'd together at one through hull fitted with a valve. The cockpit drains ran back into the motor well which had a drain hole at the bottom of the motor mount, probably just above the water line. No bilge drain. The bilge was always dry with no sign of any water ever being there. Original marine toilet was removed and replaced with a bolt down Porta-Potti. Thru hull was plugged and glassed over, original inside flange left in place. End result was one through hull for the sink and ice box. The original through holes were just a hole in the hull flush to the bottom, with no outer "collar" or flange on the outside. Again, all from memory.

Paul T