Broken cockpit drain pipes

[raghaulerII]

I trailered my Horizon home from South Carolina to Michigan in the spring of '13.  A friend and I then towed it 100 miles to Muskegon and sailed for 10 hours before trying to load it back on the trailer.  The wind was blowing hard so we assumed I had to back the trailer in much further because the water had blown away from the launch.  After we finally got it on the trailer and back on dry land we discovered several inches of water above the floor! The PVC pipes had snapped off about 4" rearward of the 90 degree fittings glassed into the floor of the cockpit.  Both sides were broken in approximately the same spot.  With both of us sitting in the rear of the boat the thru hull fittings for the drains were partially below the waterline letting water into the bilge.  The longer we sailed the lower the thru hulls and the more water we were taking on.  Not being familiar with the boat we didn't recognize all the symptoms of a sinking boat.  I now have a water alarm in the bilge as well as an automatic bilge pump.  I also have two rubber hoses on each drain to allow flex caused by the outboard hanging on the back.

[SMITH]

Been waiting to see someone pipe in with negative comments regarding the PVC house plumbing used to drain CP yachts.  Several years ago a major US motor boat builder got sold to a major oriental conglomerate (you know the name).  The board of directors decided that the boats they built were not profitable enough, so the US factory switched from using bronze thru hull assemblies, to cheap, cobbled together PVC household fittings attached to Marelon thru hulls.  The continuous machine threads on the thru hulls did not mate well with the tapered pipe threads of the three dollar PVC house valves.  The PVC leaked.  A guy bought one of these boats, and on its third offshore voyage, the flooded hull capsized, leaving him and three relatives in offshore November cold water.  The sad irony was that the one guy who got rescued the next day, was the only one who could not swim.

Besides the leaking house plumbing, the hull lacked adequate flotation foam.  When flooded it had a pre-disposition to roll over to starboard, and did so repeatedly both during rescue attempts and during tests.  Litigation ensued and claims were settled out of court.  I've been hesitant about PVC on boats ever since.   I like the addition of flex joints on this vessel, and plan to add same to my own.  Thanks RaghaulerII.
SMITH

[NateD]

That is a crazy story, glad it turned out as well as it did.

I don't think I've heard of the cockpit drain pipes breaking below deck like that on Com-Pacs before, and some of the CP16's have been out there flexing around for 35+ years.

I know the scupper drain(s) are above the waterline under normal operation, but if you're really paranoid you could double-clamp those flexible hoses as well.

[Bob23]

I've also wondered about the PVC on my 29 year old CP 23. At first I was suspect that it was the source of some rainwater in the bilge but after testing, they seem sound. But they are shorter than yours, too. I was planning on a repair similar to yours, Rag. Good job.
Thanks,
Bob23
(ps: recently, there have been discussions here about possible construction weaknesses in our Compac. I wonder if the Hutchins read this stuff or maybe someone should contact them. ?)

[rbh1515]

If you check out Com-Pac's FB site they have a couple of pics of a HDC being built.  Looks like the PVC is being replaced.
Rob