How do you get all of the water out of the bilge of a sun cat? My sun cat's bilge has water in it after I pump it out. The hose is all the way down. Does a strum box help? I know it will not completely solve the problem. I have hull #16 which has foam in block form separating the bilge from the storage lockers in the cockpit.
Thank you for any suggestions,
Bert Felton
bfelton,
I'll answer your question, but first, why do you have so much water in the bilge in the first place? The bilge should be practically DRY. If it isn't, and you have that much water, you need to determine the cause for the ingress of so much water. Your centerboard pennant pipe may be leaking.
OK, now for the answer - remove the step and shelf under the bridgedeck in the cabin, reach down into the bilge with a small hand pump, rag, or sponge, and simply mop it up! Not sure whether a strum box on the hose would help.
One of the first modifications I made to my NEW Sun Cat was to provide access to the bilge, which was non existent. The area around my centerboard trunk originally looked like this, with no way to get a hand or arm into the bilge for any reason.
(http://i1125.photobucket.com/albums/l594/CPYOA/Com-Pac%20Sun%20Cat%20Mods/139.jpg)
I decided to enlarge the opening to gain access to the bilge should I ever need or want to in the future. This photo shows how I cut aditional liner away to provide a larger opening. You can clearly see the large hose from the manual bilge pump and reach into every corner of the bilge.
(http://i1125.photobucket.com/albums/l594/CPYOA/Com-Pac%20Sun%20Cat%20Mods/150.jpg)
Since this is a storage area I needed to make sure that items stowed here didn't fall into the bilge. I cut strips of thin plywood, coated them well with epoxy to seal against moisture, and fastened them down with a few well placed screws. The final arrangement looked like this.
(http://i1125.photobucket.com/albums/l594/CPYOA/Com-Pac%20Sun%20Cat%20Mods/155.jpg)
capt_nemo
Sun Cat "Frisky"
I have owned the boat for about 5 months and there was water in there when I purchased her. My centerboard trunk is different than yours; it's stainless steel. The deepest part of my bilge is just aft of the bridge deck. It looks like your bilge pump hose runs forward of the center board bolt. Or am I looking at it wrong?
Thanks,
Bert Felton
Quote from: bfelton on April 06, 2012, 09:34:32 PM
I have owned the boat for about 5 months and there was water in there when I purchased her. My centerboard trunk is different than yours; it's stainless steel. The deepest part of my bilge is just aft of the bridge deck. It looks like your bilge pump hose runs forward of the center board bolt. Or am I looking at it wrong?
Thanks,
Bert Felton
My '02 is as yours is. My piviot bolt is the lowest part. The rest is concrete ballast. Water got into mine from the port windows and the deck hatch. Port windows stained the seats and the water came in from the deck hatch between the liners and the deck. Reseal the hatch.
bfelton,
I think you are looking at it wrong. The deepest part of my bilge is under and aft of the bridgedeck also. And, the centerboard bolt (pivot bolt) is nearest you, looking at the photo where you see the gray paint! The view is facing aft.
Have you taken the interior of the boat apart under the bridge deck - especially the removable step and platform on which most people store their porta pottys? I would love to see a photo of that Stainless Steel Centerboard Trunk protruding into the cabin of a Sun Cat.
It is my understanding that the much touted Stainless Steel Centerboard Trunk (which, by the way, I also have in my boat) is a stand alone module which is inserted into a well that is moulded as part of the keel and hull, and fastened in place to the underside of the stub keel. It is that moulded fiberglass well protruding into the cabin that you see in my photos.
capt_nemo
Cap Nemo
I'll take some photos as soon as I can. But the part of the trunk you can see on my boat is the stainless steel. I'm hull #16; hull #20 is like mine.
Bert
Butch,
I resealed the forward hatch and am going to get my brother to help remove and reseal the port port. I am unable to do it myself at this time because I had spinal fusion in August.
Bert
I didn't reseal the port windows. I had to buy 2- $20.00 gaskets. When I unscred the forward hatch it came right up. No adhearsion at all to the deck.
bfelton,
My apologies.
My Sun Cat is a 2010 model. As an Engineer I can certainly come up with several good reasons why they decided to isolate my Sun Cat's stainless trunk from the inside of the hull with fiberglass in some fashion. And, I'm certainly glad that they did so. Didn't realize that earlier models had the stainless trunk sticking proudly into the inside of the hull.
capt_nemo
2002 The bilge is only about 8" deep and only at the pivot bolt. The rest is concrete. The SS trunk sticks up about 8". I can reach back about two feet before I hit the front wall of the cockpit foot well. The SS trunk is sealed at the top. I told the newer ones like Don's are open at the top. Looking in from the lazaret, I see the pump hose going do the the bottom that I can't see from this vantage point but I know in my heart the it is the same level as inside the cabin. Don't know what's holding the end of the hose down. That being said, if I have water in the bilge, I lower the bow and dip it out from in the cabin. Yours being an older there my be more changes than mine and Don's version.
I put photos of the center board trunk in CPYOA photo bucket under the name of Bella. You may be able to see that there is a depression under the center board bolt, on both sides. Then the bilge rises up. I believe it drops down again where the bilge pump hose drops in on the port side. It seems to be fresh water which is good considering she's be tied up to a dock in salt water for over a month.
Bert Felton
Oops, it's under sun cat Bella.
Bert Felton
Getting back to the original question, how to get water out of hard-to-reach places in boats, I use a shop vac. Sometimes I use the extension hose that is for dust collection on a sander, as it is smaller in diameter and can fit more places.
Thanks, I woke up this morning wondering if a shop vav would work as a temporary solution. I'll give it a try.
Bert Felton
You could work the hose diameter down to a small clear plastic hose and snake it where it needs to go to extrapolate the water.
Or stuff a natural sponge into an area and use that for an evaporation pad.
skip.
When you lower the bow down, is your boat in the water or on a trailer? Mine is in the water.
Thanks,
Bert Felton
I trailer mine. You'll need rail meat in the bow.
Quote from: capt_nemo on April 07, 2012, 07:07:05 PM
bfelton,
My apologies.
My Sun Cat is a 2010 model. As an Engineer I can certainly come up with several good reasons why they decided to isolate my Sun Cat's stainless trunk from the inside of the hull with fiberglass in some fashion. And, I'm certainly glad that they did so. Didn't realize that earlier models had the stainless trunk sticking proudly into the inside of the hull.
capt_nemo
Don, Gerry Hutchins once explained to me the evolution of the centerboard trunk designs. There have been three. The originals are like Bert's. Later, they cut off the top and then the end and basically made parts of the trunk out of fiberglass. The older boats also had the flange on the outside exposed, while newer boats have that glassed over.
The new method makes for a smoother finish outside and a dry boat inside. The bolt and gasket on Bert's boat will always be prone to leak a bit unless tightened just right. On the other hand, I will know when the pin holding my centerboard has lived its useful life because the centerboard will fall out of the boat, with any luck at a good time for that to happen. At that point, it will be time for some boat surgery.
Similarly, the flange and the bolts holding it on my boat are encased in fiberglass and well protected, but trapping stainless and salt water behind fiberglass is not the best long-term plan.
My thinking is that the new design is leak-free and will last a long time, but exactly how long will vary from boat to boat. Once something bad happens to that trunk, it will be time to start cutting. Older boats like Bert's will tend to leak a bit, but you can inspect the whole assembly and replacing the pivot pin is not a big deal. Either approach has advantages and disadvantages.
There was an inch or so of salt water in the bilge. I sucked it out with a shop vac. Now I'll keep an eye on it; hopefully it will be dry. I had her in the salt water twice before going back on her trailer and having a barrier coat and bottom paint.
Thank you for all of the advice,
Bert Felton
Bert, if you are sure that was salt water, I would hose out the bilge with fresh and suck that back out just to keep the salt out of the boat. It gets everywhere because it can take a ride on water molecules and reach any part of your boat.
There was about 1/2 inch of water in the bilge, which is deepest in my boat under the bridge deck, with a shop vac. Now I have to see if any water comes in. It was definitely salt water.
Bert Felton
I pumped the water out with a shop vac. There was about 1/2 inch of salt water. Now I will keep an eye on it and see. I had the boat in salt water two times before and I am hoping it came through a couple of screws that hold in the center board trunk. Two were not tight; I added 5200 to them and snugged them up. Since then I also had the bottom barrier coated and painted.
I was recently told about a portable pump for hard to get to places. It's an Aqua Charge Portable Rechargeable Pump with 12 Volt Charger Adapter.
Bert Felton
I have found one source for water entering the bilge; it enters during a rain or a cockpit wash down via the lazeretts. The aft outside corners on my boat pocket water and overflow into the bilge. I ran a high quality "D" shaped self-stick weather strip on the outside a aft lip of the opening to dam the water. It seems to work. I also cut out the opening into the bilge as others have done. I leave mine open for ventilation. Dri-deck in the storage bottom prevents objects from dropping into the bilge. For any water accumulation I run a sponge back in on both sides of the trunk to mop up. I also added a 90 degree pvc pipe ,with intake slots, to the bilge pick-up hose.
Steve,
The gutters around the cockpit hatches are shallow in the aft end and deep at the front. I have found that if I set my boat at a bow-high angle when washing, a good deal of water can get down via the gutter. If the boat is level or slightly nose-down while washing, not nearly as much.
I think the gutter should be deeper, but that would be a difficult change to the mold, so I can see why Com-Pac would not want to attempt it.