When the prior owner hauled the Pearson 36, I now own, he had a custom of drilling a 1/2 inch hole into the bottom of the bilge. This way he never had to worry about water accumulating in the bilge, freezing and causing problems.
At commissioning time he would mix up some
epoxy with thickener and plug the hole until the next time the boat was hauled. To identify the location would
paint the small filled area with a bottom
paint that was a different color from the bottom
paint used for the hull. Then when the boat was hauled again, he could drill in the same place.
At first I was horrified to think someone would drill through the hull, but
the more I thought about it, the more I thought it was rather clever and
effective in its simplicity.
However, always eager to upgrade the situation on my boat, I began looking for a permanent drain arrangement.
I know exactly what I want, but after going through West, Defender and
Boaters World, I am disappointed not to find it.
So I seeking help.
Basically, I am looking for a mushroom shaped bronze through hull threaded on the outside of the shaft to take a large flanged nut or nut and washer inside the bilge. These fitting are available in all the catalogs. What I don't find, however, is one that is threaded on the inside bore as well, so I can screw a plug in from the outside. I know I have seen these in old wooden boats. Are they called garboard drains? The outside plug usually operates with a hex wrench inserted into a mating recess in the head of the plug. The inside thread would allow a similar plug to be screwed in from the inside the bilge for redundancy.
Bronze mushroom-headed through hulls in the catalog look perfect for what I want, except there does not appear to be any that have threads inside and out. I have considered whether I could tap the inside bore, but I am nervous about the inside and outside threading weakening the pipe and allowing it to fracture.
Bob Franklin
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