Cruiser stern no drainage!

[Polishicebreaker]

Hi folks, I'm currently replacing someone's stern deckboards but on inspection it seems there's no drainage or channels under deck. It's just 50mm angle (reasonable condition but rusty) on it's side so the boards sit on a flat edge, naturally this means all water runs into bilge. The boat generally seems like a well built hull but is this common?

I now have to find a solution so I thought A) cut out all existing struts and replace with steel u-section channel and cut drainage holes to hull or weld u-section onto existing steel angle( will raise floor level but theres space to do this) and cut out drainage holes in hull.

 

The cutting out and replacing the best option but using the existing stuff will possibly be faster although it will have to be de-rusted etc.

 

any thoughts?

 

many thanks Ed

[Bod]

Make a suitable offering, to the Gods of bilge pumps.

 

A proper job may not be much slower, or cheaper than working with what you got. Depends on the welding costs.

 

Bod

[Starcoaster]

My boat is a cruiser stern with no drainage channels, it's stupid! I keep the back cover on at all times when not moving. The rear compartment where the prop shaft is has a bilge pump on a float switch in it, but as the engine bulkhead is compartmentalized into separate bits, I still have to manually bail out the water from the other sections if they fill up with rain.

[Polishicebreaker]

I thought if I go over existing steel, at least levels are established and I won't have to cut it out but then the de-rusting/painting proccess could take the same amount of time. Would also be worried about future rusting in between old angle and new channel but that will be quite minimal.

[Machpoint005]

I don't know how common it is, but our cruiser stern has proper drainage. The deck boards sit on channel section steel members, and there are four small drainage pipes leading outboard from these. I just have to check the pipes every not very often. The bilge in the engine 'ole has always been completely dry even without the rear canopy in place.

 

The advantage of a reputable hull builder (Colecraft)?

[journeyperson]

My G & J Reeves boat drains very well and I only ever get water in the bilge via the stern tube. I don't have a back cover. There are substantial, deep channels all around the edges, with shallower cross channels which drain into those. All the water is taken away through two tubes, about 1.5" diameter, which drain down through the uxter plate on either side at the stern. The only minor flaw is that the line of the hull rises to the stern so the channels to the side and front of the deck do usually hold a little water. As long as the channels are cleared periodically, the tubes never need unblocking.

[bigste]

Fitted rubber carpet/mat. Everything then runs over the side

[blackrose]

The advantage of a reputable hull builder (Colecraft)?

Not really, the drainage is the same on my disreputable Liverpool Boat.

[Bee]

That is a Bad Thing, there should be some good big holes to shed water. Rain will eventually sink a boat but make a horrible mess before that event but just look at the water coming over/through gates sometimes.

About 10 days ago I tied to a fairly high wall, hot and sunny, 2 hours later torrential rain and thunder and then the car park above the wall emptied many hundreds of gallons into the river through pipes in the wall. They would have sunk a narrowboat in minutes if unlucky enough to fill fore or aft decks. I think we may have filled and sunk as well if we'd been under a pipe. That was in France but its still a wake up call.

Edited June 15, 2015 by Bee

[blackrose]

No deckboard drainage system comprising a few small pipes would be adequate to deal with hundreds of gallons of water coming over lock gates, etc. That sort of deluge would mostly be kept out by the boards themselves, with some spilling over the drainage channels into the engine space.

Edited June 15, 2015 by blackrose

[Alan Saunders]

My cheap, 1987 Brummagem had a self-draining-deck. Water tended to 'stick' to the underside of the deck boards rather than drip into the channels.

 

My new deck boards have a drip channel routed near the edge and the 'U' channel is topped by a soft plastic sealing strip; split polythene tubing.

 

The 1"x1" channels and similar sized drains port and starboard cope with average rain but not a downpour. A cover is the best solution.

 

Alan

[Wanted]

Mine has channels made from angle steel on its side, it runs around the engine ole and back to a channel at the back which leads to a scupper either side. The only problem I get is when the cannels get blocked with leaves.

 

My next job is to sort out the stupid step arrangement that seems to dump its water directly into the engine bay!

[Neil2]

The poor design of many cruiser stern boats probably originates from the days when boats were commonly built with wet cabin bilges and the surface water ran freely from bow to stern where it got pumped out periodically.

 

Also those boats that have an outside step arrangement are great at saving space inside but there's no way to stop water entering the bilge so again it relies on a pump out every so often.

 

In both situations there's no real incentive to stop water entering the bilge via the cockpit as the bilge is getting wet anyway.

 

The worst types are where the cockpit has a well deck and is covered in deck boards rather than by a hatch. It's almost impossible to stop surface water getting in the bilge on these boats. If it has a hatch, or a flush deck, you could just simply cover the deck with some form of waterproof mat and direct the water overboard or towards a scupper.

 

There was a discussion on here ages ago which raised the issue of how little thought goes into surface water dispersal on narrowboats, compared to other types of boat. It's not as if it never rains in this country.

[Rickent]

Mine has angle iron channels where the boards meet and these drain either side near the back. I also have lino over the top and a pram cover. Needless to say , I have no water issues.

[Boat&Bikes]

The poor design of many cruiser stern boats probably originates from the days when boats were commonly built with wet cabin bilges and the surface water ran freely from bow to stern where it got pumped out periodically.

 

Also those boats that have an outside step arrangement are great at saving space inside but there's no way to stop water entering the bilge so again it relies on a pump out every so often.

 

In both situations there's no real incentive to stop water entering the bilge via the cockpit as the bilge is getting wet anyway.

 

The worst types are where the cockpit has a well deck and is covered in deck boards rather than by a hatch. It's almost impossible to stop surface water getting in the bilge on these boats. If it has a hatch, or a flush deck, you could just simply cover the deck with some form of waterproof mat and direct the water overboard or towards a scupper.

 

There was a discussion on here ages ago which raised the issue of how little thought goes into surface water dispersal on narrowboats, compared to other types of boat. It's not as if it never rains in this country.

 

Our boat has what id guess you would call a well deck, only 4 inches I reckon. It has deck boards right across. It leaks not a drop...I suppose some builders know what their doing.

[Rickent]

I'm pretty confident I could leave mine open to the elements and have very little water ingress.

[jaywalker]

My cruiser stern has deck boards laying on u tubes and then tubes draining through the baseplate, works perfectly well but I would have thought it would have been easier to drain through the sides. Is this a common arrangement and are the joints where the tubes go through the baseplate a potential weak spot.