Cratch deck

[harleyj]

That may not be the correct name but we have discovered a design fault on our " Lazy Bee". The drainage holes for the bow deck are too low and consequently the deck in certain situations ie. fast filling lock or a passing boat in a tunnel, water enters the deck and is a pain in the rear end to clean up. We have used the high tech repair method of plugging the holes with blu-tac but realise that will not suffice in all situations.

Are we best to change the floor of the deck and also the drainage holes or is there any other suggestions?

[New to this]

this may work to a point but not sure

 

May be an idea asking an engineering shop to make something similar and stronger

 

http://www.screwfix.com/p/manrose-square-flap-vent-white-100mm/18561#product_additional_details_container

[Pie Eater]

Removing some ballast from the bow may help.

 

Steve

[Ray T]

Or fit one of these, they work on a sailing dinghy *

 

 

Seriously though I trust these holes do not also act as vents for the gas locker? If not you could always get them plated over. This however raises another point do you have a cratch cover? If not rainwater will collect and will also be pain to clear.

 

Are the drain holes level with the deck?

 

* An Elvestrom self bailer.

Edited July 15, 2016 by Ray T

[Alan de Enfield]

"Flapper Valves", let water out but not in.

Regularly found on 'proper' boats (lumpy water types)

[David Mack]

I would be more worried about the height of the front door threshold. If water regularly comes onto the deck how much are you at risk of water flooding into the cabin, which as a minimum means soggy carpets and at worst a sunken boat?

 

I suggest removing ballast from the front to keep the bows higher out of the water, but not necessarily easy to achieve if the ballast is under the floor.

[harleyj]

Or fit one of these, they work on a sailing dinghy *

 

 

Seriously though I trust these holes do not also act as vents for the gas locker? If not you could always get them plated over. This however raises another point do you have a cratch cover? If not rainwater will collect and will also be pain to clear.

 

Are the drain holes level with the deck?

 

* An Elvestrom self bailer.

They only drain the foredeck and and are supposed to be level but are just a bit higher especially on the starboard side. One fellow boater suggested that most foredecks slope slightly towards the stern to encourage the drainage, this sounds logical to me but this has not been done on our boat.

[ditchcrawler]

They only drain the foredeck and and are supposed to be level but are just a bit higher especially on the starboard side. One fellow boater suggested that most foredecks slope slightly towards the stern to encourage the drainage, this sounds logical to me but this has not been done on our boat.

As said earlier, are your bows to deep? If they were higher then the deck would slope back more.

[harleyj]

I would be more worried about the height of the front door threshold. If water regularly comes onto the deck how much are you at risk of water flooding into the cabin, which as a minimum means soggy carpets and at worst a sunken boat?

I suggest removing ballast from the front to keep the bows higher out of the water, but not necessarily easy to achieve if the ballast is under the floor.

It is more a case of the small amount of water that just sits in amongst the stored items at the bow, just a pain the rear.

[harleyj]

As said earlier, are your bows to deep? If they were higher then the deck would slope back more.

Our bow appears to be be reasonably higher than the stern especially when we have just rubbed the ceiling of the M5 tunnel on the Droitwich Canal although the water does enter more often after filling the water tank. Having checked out some other boats it does appear our drainage holes are very close to the water line.

[mikedel]

I have the same challenge. My intended solution is to get the welder at my marina to fit a sump down into the floor with a removeable grate over the top. I will then fit a bilge pump with integrated water sensor and pipe it overboard.

[Phil Ambrose]

I had the same problem, when tank full the drains were on the waterline, I simply adjusted some ballast. Filling the fuel tank helped a lot too.

Phil

[FadeToScarlet]

The drains on mine are about a foot above the water level, but water can still get in sometimes.

 

If they were lower and it bothered me, I'd look at "flapper valves", to allow water out but not in.