Tidbit of info on the 16's cockpit drain

[Tim Gardner]

This is from the sailboat company in NC:

Com-Pac 16s built after 1987 have a maintenance requirement in their cockpit drain system. The PVC pipes connecting the cockpit to the transom are glassed in place, but the fiberglass connection is not a waterproof connection. The boat stays dry with a bead of 3M 5200 around the drainpipe on the inside of the cockpit drain and another bead under the drain covers on the transom. Your boat needs to stay dry on the inside. Check it often through the access ports on the seats. Wet wood bunks on the inside require deck removal and this can be expensive.

TG

[deisher6]

Dear Tim:
What great scoop, timely also. Just returned from a moderate two day sail in our '89 C16.  Yesterday my wife noticed that the cushions were wet and soaked her back while napping on them.  She sponged out a half gallon of water from the floor.  Sailing this morning there was 1/4 of water above the rug.  Stripped everything out of the interior and raised front end of the trailer up as far it would go.  Sponged out a gallon of water, two hours later sponged out another 1.5 gallons.  Must be some under the bunks.  Plan on drying it out for several days on the incline, picking out the sealant on the inboard side of the scuppers, replacing the flaps and resealing everything with 3M 4200 or 5200.

This is the 5th outing since hauling the boat up from FL.  Speculate that it became apparent this time because the boat was not tipped to drain (some accumulation), and we used the engine more this time possibly loosening the fittings causing more leaking.

Again thanks.   Thanks also to the SailBoat Co. they sold us our first C16, C23 and C27 a few year back.

regards charlie

[Bob23]

   Interesting. When I first bought my 23, I wondered if the pvc pipes connecting the cockpit drains to the scuppers could crack if there was any movement between the hull and cockpit floor. If I ever enlarged the system, I'd connect it with flexible clear rubber tubing.
  Tim: This sounds strange. I wonder what change Compac made after 1987 to make the boats less water tight? You'd think they'd be improving the boats. Maybe the reason for the non-fiberglassed connection is exactly what I noted above- flex between hull and cockpit scuppers would result in a crack if they were glassed in place.
Just my 2 cents.
Bob23

[skip1930]

You know that Catalina 22 that was bashed on the rocks last week in our 60 mph gale? Well I was astounded that she had no scuppers in the cockpit. The swamped and gashed open hull additionally had a fully flooded cockpit and I felt around in the water thinking a scupper was plugged with stuff. Nope. No drain hole.

The flooded cockpit is above the height of the water she scuttled in up against the rocks. Isn't that kind of cheap on the part of the manufacture?

skip.

[buckaroo]

This leads me to something else I've been wondering about -- on these later boats, what's the composition of the transom where the PVC goes through?  I know that there is wood backing the swim ladder and the motor mount at least, but does it core the entire transom?  I'm paranoid about water saturation through poorly-sealed scuppers, and through the screws of the scupper covers.  I've already had leaking from the cockpit side from rainwater, and I figure the sea-side of the pipes was probably in similar condition when I bought the boat.

[Salty19]

Buck--a very valid concern.  My old 16 appeared to be cored across the entire transom.  It never leaked but you could tell it was sealed post-factory.

Definitely something to check and seal with plenty of goop.

Skip--Wow, that is a bad design on that Catalina.  A friend has a C22, I'll have to ask him about it.

[kahpho]

I've been meaning to look into the drain thing. Thanks TG for the reminder!

and FYI... the Catalina 22 I once had, the drains were at the forward corners of the cockpit. Strange, but there they were.

Mel

[Bob23]

Forward drains:
   Same on my brothers O'Day Mariner. I think the drains are led directly into the bilge...kind of a strange arrangement.
bob23

[DaveE]

Lyle Hesse's two fine boats, the Balboa 20 and the Ensenada are designed the same way. They drain down thru a tube behind the cabin stairs making for two potential problems: clogging when the swing keel is raised and leakage into the bilge/cabin.