Every time it rains..

[kendo]

Hi Cruiser stern owners.

 

I put in a lot of time, effort, and expense getting our bilge back to a pristine condition.

But every time it rains, there is an inch of water down there, and it's soul destroying.

 

At the moment, i'm using a wet/dry 'charles' hoover to suck it all out. But when we're

travelling, i don't expect to have this luxury available. Was wondering if there is a

manual pump that will do the same job. (get it bone dry). Obvious solution would be to

fit a pram hood, but we don't like them. We have a bilge pump fitted, but people tell me

this won't remove every drop.

 

Bit gutted really. And was wondering how other people cope with this problem.

 

Thankyou.

 

[dor]

They live with it.

 

Some boats, e.g. Liverpool Boats, have steps outside and the bottom step is well below the water line. There are holes in the step to let the water straight into the main bilge. I tried fitting pipes to it to take the water back to the pump bilge, but it never stayed dry.

[David Schweizer]

Hi Cruiser stern owners.

 

I put in a lot of time, effort, and expense getting our bilge back to a pristine condition.

But every time it rains, there is an inch of water down there, and it's soul destroying.

 

At the moment, i'm using a wet/dry 'charles' hoover to suck it all out. But when we're

travelling, i don't expect to have this luxury available. Was wondering if there is a

manual pump that will do the same job. (get it bone dry). Obvious solution would be to

fit a pram hood, but we don't like them. We have a bilge pump fitted, but people tell me

this won't remove every drop.

 

Bit gutted really. And was wondering how other people cope with this problem.

 

Thankyou.

 

One possible solution may be to have larger rain channels fitted.

 

I had a similar problem on the weed hatch access door in the rear counter on our boat. The original drainage channels could nopt cope with a continuous downpour, new larger channels solved the problem, and I now have a dry rear counter locker.

[nb Innisfree]

I've sometimes wondered if a concrete screed in the bilge with a area left out to act as a sump for a bilge pump, screed need only be about one inch thick, not in the engine bilge of course, it could be painted to seal it.

 

Anybody any thoughts on this?

[jake_crew]

Concrete is porous and will HOLD water against the steel work promoting rust unless you have some very effective paint treatment.

[blackrose]

I had a lot of water in my engine hole a few weeks ago and so after getting it all out I cleaned out leaves etc from the channels under the deckboards which is often the cause.

 

Two days later to my surprise I found it was flooded down there again and I realised that the downpipes from the channels were blocked solid. I tried a wire coathanger but couldn't shift it so I ended up coming back up the downpipe from the other end and a load of debris and rusty water came out.

 

I'm going to pour a little bit of vactan down there to stop the pipes rusting through but I need to wire brush them out first. Where can I buy a wire brush pipe cleaner? The pipes are about an inch diameter.

[PaddingtonBear]

Yet another very good reason for not having a cruiser stern?

[kendo]

Hi Blackrose.

 

nod..i've already cleaned out the channels. looking for a pump. manual is fine. is there such a thing?

 

I need to wire brush them out first. Where can I buy a wire brush pipe cleaner? The pipes are about an inch diameter.

I used a broom handle with sandpaper wrapped around it, and taped securely.

gave it a blow through with a short length of hose. then poured vactan down.

[WotEver]

Where can I buy a wire brush pipe cleaner? The pipes are about an inch diameter.

A shotgun cleaning phosphor bronze wire brush would be around the right size. Any gun shop will stock them or you can get 'em on ebay etc.

 

eg: http://www.philipmorris.uk.com/dept/Shotgu...-Bronze-brushes

 

Tony

[Peter R]

Without wishing to be unduly pessimistic, I suspect the answer is 'live with it'.

 

I have the same problem, in my case it's inadequate deck drains that are the main culprit. I have a cover that runs from the roof down to the stern rail that I use when i'm not cruising to keep the rain out, but even then you'll often get some water seeping past the stern gland, and no pump (electric or manual) will get it completely dry, so I just accept that there will usually be some water down there.

 

I tend to take the attitude that life's too short to worry about having a pristine bilge!

 

Peter

[nb Innisfree]

Concrete is porous and will HOLD water against the steel work promoting rust unless you have some very effective paint treatment.

 

Add waterproofing to the mix? make sure bilge is well painted first then use lots of paint to seal it? can't see a problem really.

[kendo]

Without wishing to be unduly pessimistic, I suspect the answer is 'live with it'.

Cheers Peter. I'm coming around to you and Dor's way of thinking.

but old habits die hard, and i've ordered myself one of these.

 

sealey wet hoover

(no affiliation to company or product).

 

1000W is expensive in power, i know. But it's a peace of mind thing.

Hate to see water slopping around down there.

But still loving the cruiser stern.

 

thanks.

[blackrose]

Yet another very good reason for not having a cruiser stern?

 

Yes you're right, but there are also some very good reasons FOR having a cruiser stern. So, as with any feature on a boat, the pros and cons have to be weighed up.

Edited June 1, 2010 by blackrose

[Bones]

what is wrong with an automatic bilge pump?

[Guest wanted]

Low profile bilge pump

 

for a dry, comfortable sleep clicky

[BlueStringPudding]

Our base plate at the back slopes down towards the bulkhead rather than down towards to prop shaft & bilge pump, so there's almost always rainwater down there. Even though the boat as a whole is clearly trimmed down towards the stern. Classic Black Prince engineering.

 

Also I noticed while tinkering in the rain this weekend, that the drainage channels under the cruiser stern hatches also slope that way, so rain water drains away from the drainage channels and eventually will spill over into the bilges.

 

During the hot weather recently, all the winter's rainwater/melted snow water, evapourated out of there - I was most impressed! However it's all back again now the weather's taken a turn for the worse.

 

I used to use a hand pump to get the water out, but even a slight trace of diesel in it kills the valves and it stops working. After getting through 3 handpumps in a row I decided not to spend any more money on them.

 

If it's really bad I use disposable nappies to soak it up, but they're wastefull and do tend to split (pouring little goopy white beads everywhere).

 

And if I can wait, I'll let it evapourate in the sunshine.

[barge sara]

Yet another very good reason for not having a cruiser stern?

 

Or a just very good reason for not having badly designed drainage channels?

[BlueStringPudding]

Or a just very good reason for not having badly designed drainage channels?

 

Yup!

[RichardH]

Why the need for a perfectly dry bilge ?

 

The only frustration we had with a cruiser stern was rainwater insisting on filling the oil tray which, if not pumped out was a little polluting.

[barge sara]

Why the need for a perfectly dry bilge ?

So that you can immediately spot any liquids escaping from the engine?

[RichardH]

So that you can immediately spot any liquids escaping from the engine?

 

There could be differing views of a 'bilge' On our cruiser backs, the water coming in through the stern tube enters an area which if it becomes excessive is pumped away by the bilge pump. There is also a separate sealed area under the engine which as you say is there for liquids potentially leaking from the engine.

 

In an idea world I would like to see the area under the engine remaining reasonably dry.

[Chris Pink]

Add waterproofing to the mix? make sure bilge is well painted first then use lots of paint to seal it? can't see a problem really.

 

A perfectly acceptable method of ballasting boats.

[Evo]

I bought a rubber stable mat to cover the rear deck...perfectly dry now. Do a good job fitting it and it looks like a perfect floor. Stops rattly boards and subdues engine noise...what more could you want. Ok its a pain to roll it up to get in the engine hole.

 

I used this stuff...

 

Rubber_mats

[WotEver]

I bought a rubber stable mat to cover the rear deck...perfectly dry now. Do a good job fitting it and it looks like a perfect floor. Stops rattly boards and subdues engine noise...what more could you want. Ok its a pain to roll it up to get in the engine hole.

 

I used this stuff...

 

Rubber_mats

I bought a roll of this which had similar results. Smartened up the counter no end at the same time.

 

Tony

[Smelly]

I'd wonder whether improving your deckboards might help...

 

When I lived in rented, draughty houses, I'd wipe a coat of vaseline over one surface of a window frame and silicone sealant over the other. Silicone cures and forms a decent seal when the window next closes.

 

Doing similar with your rain channels and deckboards might help seal them more effectively.

 

Ours rest flat against the channels and after a day's relatively heavy rain today the bilges were bone dry Admittedly newish deckboards helped..

 

I was nearly sold on one of those mats for a minute there but realised taking everything off the counter every time I needed to get down the engine ole; usually at least once a week would be irksome and would deter me from going down there.