Will my boat sink?

[Bill Lee]

My power boat cockpit drain holes (above the water line) drain through double clamped hoses to thru-hulls BELOW the waterline with no shut off valves. I have numerous below waterline holes but all have shut off valves except for the cockpit drains. I usually don't turn any of the valves off anyways (as the boat is used all season long) but should I worry enough and spend the dough to refit shut off valves? Cheers,
Bill

[delmarrey]

The problem with deck drains is they'll freeze up and cause the cockpit to fill up, but power boats some times have other sources for the water to drain. If you install valves where is the water going to go when it rains/snows?

Freezing can break hoses, so the thing to look for is to see if the stand pipe end is above the water line. Normally anything below the waterline will not freeze. It's the fresh rain/snow water one has to worry about.

If you leave it in the water all winter I would do a biweekly inspection or have someone on the docks keep an eye on it for you.

[jim767]

If you have a thru hull below the water line not equipped with a sea cock the boat will take on water if the drain hose parts below the water line.

Will the boat sink? If enough water comes in YES.

[James S]

Originally Posted by jim767

If you have a thru hull below the water line not equipped with a sea cock the boat will take on water if the drain hose parts below the water line.

Will the boat sink? If enough water comes in YES.

Yep,,

[capn_billl]

That is not a real good design for an all weather boat. I don't like the cockpit drain in my power boat either, They are well above the water line, but I would have much prefered scuppers. A scupper will never fail. Any through hull below the waterline will fail someday. Rubber hoses deteriorate, hose clamps rust, drains plug with debris, etc...

[malbert73]

I honestly doubt your boat would be more likely to sink for the following reasons:
Seacocks are not automatic, so unless you happen to be there when the hose parts you are unlikely to be there to close the seacock.
Virtually all sinkings caused by hose failures like this happen when the boat is vacant (ie freezing weather)
You will always leave them open to drain your cockpit, otherwise your cockpit could fill up and you WOULD sink.
I have seacocks on my cockpit drains- but again, will never leave them closed.

If you were passagemaking or living aboard, may be worth the money. For episodic (pleasure) use of boat, just spend the money on new marine grade hoseclamps every 1-2 years and on replacing hose regularly.

[svHyLyte]

I cannot imagine a through-hull below the water line without a seacock to allow one to close it if necessary.

[capn_billl]

Originally Posted by svHyLyte

I cannot imagine a through-hull below the water line without a seacock to allow one to close it if necessary.

I cant imagine cockpit drains below the waterline, ... debris floats.

[svHyLyte]

Originally Posted by capn_billl

I cant imagine cockpit drains below the waterline, ... debris floats.

Absolutely correct yet they seem to be very common on many yachts and particularly power yachts. Your observation on scuppers was right on.

[gonesail]

this was the case in my boat .. only below waterline when the boat was loaded .. and we installed bronze seacocks but as stated above: i never close them.

[barnakiel]

Originally Posted by jim767

If you have a thru hull below the water line not equipped with a sea cock the boat will take on water if the drain hose parts below the water line.

Will the boat sink? If enough water comes in YES.

If, on the other hand, there is a sea cock, the boat will take on water if the drain hose parts below the water line ...

The difference is IF (IF!) you notice the issue in time then it may be easier to close a sea cock than jump overboard to stuff something into the thru-hull ... ;-)

If the hose parts while you are away then sea cock or not, the boat will sink ...

b.

[Bill Lee]

The cockpit drains are above the water line but the thru - hull holes are always below the waterline. I've started checking the hoses and clamps on those fittings as well as ALL my thru - hulls because the clamps and hoses on those are just as likely to fail. The integrity of the boat depends on being able to close the seacocks (if you have them - greeter). We do spend the entire summer on the boat and that's why I asked. From a safety perspective I sure would like to be able to close those seacocks if the clamps or hoses failed. Cheers,
Bill

[Eleven]

I'd rather have a plumbers non-return valve at the hull end. It always works, even a plastic one can be protected from impact damage by clumsy passengers.

[Bill Lee]

Originally Posted by Eleven

I'd rather have a plumbers non-return valve at the hull end. It always works, even a plastic one can be protected from impact damage by clumsy passengers.

Plumbers non-return valve? What's that?

[Tripod]

Seacocks certainly make replacing hoses and clamps easier if you need to do it while the boat is in the water. Our cockpit drains have seacocks that I only close to
exercise the valves or change hoses and clamps.