sinking fast

[SabreKai]

One of the things that scares hell out of me is the thought of trying to crawl under the cockpit floor and around the engine to access the through hulls for the cockpit drains or the shaft log. The shaft log can be managed by installation of a collar, to keep the shaft in. No problem there. The engine inlet, sink outlet and the rest of them are in reasonably clear areas for access so it would be worth trying to hammer a bung in. However getting trapped under the cockpit suggests that I either move the through hulls farther forward (increasing the hose length as well from 18 inches to about 9-10 feet) or saying goodbye as I step into the dink.

I had one boat, an HO-28 that has a pair of solid pipe cockpit drains, which was a 2 inch pipe welded to a 1/4 inch plate at either end, which was then welded to the skin. Seems to me to be a pretty solid way of getting away from hoses and valves. A tennis ball or foam nerf ball on a rope threaded through the pipe and soaked in epoxy under coat would protect the pipe internally, and it would be easy to inspect internally. Since I have to redo the cockpit drains anyway, I'm inclined to go with the solid pipe method instead of hanging 2 ten foot lengths of hose from the cockpit sole.

Comments?


Sabre