Petar
I decided this fall to drill a hole for a garboard drain in the bilge of my 35 MKII. She will soon be 40 years and has survived just fine for those years so I struggled to justify drilling that 1/8 diameter hole in the first place but it is done now and enlarged to 3/8 inch for a drain hole. Regardless of how low I drilled the hole in my boat there was no way to achieve a completely dry bilge because of the way the floors are constructed but if the 3/8 inch hole is large enough to drain before freezing shut there will never be more than about ½ an inch of water in the bilge over winter. Anyway I found out that the hull of my boat is very thick in that area, nearly 2 inches thick and that caused me to wonder while drilling about where the drill was actually going because I thought I was finding way too much material thickness. I drilled down at a slight, maybe about 20 degree angle to horizontal, because my intent was not to install a metal plug but to enlarge the hole to 3/8 and leave it that way over winter and then dry the material well and fill the hole next spring with thickened epoxy and repeat that process yearly. I think if I plug from the outside the epoxy will flow down to fill the hole better if the hole is angled down a bit. I think someone on the list has already described doing something like that with success so I am giving it a try. The flange for the metal garboard drains are about 3 inches in diameter on the outside, so that means you should have a planar surface to install them against or use a bit to make a planar surface. Also I will feel more comfortable with an epoxy plug than with a screwed in metal plug once my boat is back in the water and it seems to me that doing things that way each year, drilling and filling the same hole is not a great deal of work. I can fare the outside each time and I believe the hull should be just as strong and watertight as it was before I made the drain hole. On Tue, Nov 5, 2013 at 3:55 PM, Petar Horvatic <phorv...@gmail.com> wrote: > Rich, > > your explanation is great, it makes perfect sense. So I got the > drainplug, and I went over there last weekend to look at the possible > location. I don’t have a lot of confidence that if I drill horizontally > sideways, from the lowest point in the bildge, (what I believe you describe > as the 90 deg angle), I will actually end up perpendicular to the bottom > surface on the outside. I don’t know how deep LF38 bildges are but on > 38MkII, bildge is very shallow. If I end up higher then intended it could > be very bad as the bottom profile quickly turns from vertical to > horizontal. My intuition suggests that I might need to drill at like 30 or > 45 deg angle from horizontal in order to end up perpendicular to the bottom > surface on the outside. Maybe I just need to overcome my fear, but I wish > there is a way to find out what lowest point in the bildge projects to on > the outer side of the hull without actually drilling a pilot hole. Maybe > a pic of an actual 38MkII , and not a landfall or ideally a cross-section > drawing of the keel-hull join showing hull thickness would indicate exactly > how to drill. > > > > Petar Horvatic > > Sundowner > > 76 C&C 38MkII > > Newport, RI > > > > > > > > > > *From:* CnC-List [mailto:cnc-list-boun...@cnc-list.com] *On Behalf Of *Rich > Knowles > *Sent:* Wednesday, October 23, 2013 4:06 PM > *To:* cnc-list@cnc-list.com > *Subject:* Re: Stus-List Installing a garboard drain plug on 38MkII > > > > Peter: Using a 90 deg. angle drill, I drilled a 1/8" pilot hole out from > the interior of the boat at the intersection of the bilge wall and floor at > the lowest point in the bilge. > > > > I then used a Forstner bit the same diameter as the outside of the flange > of the drain casting to create a recessed hole in the hull exterior the > depth of the thickness of the flange plus a bit for caulking. > > > > Once the outer hole was drilled, I drilled the hole for the neck of the > drain casting deep enough to allow the casting to sit flush with the hull. > I then used a 1/2" drill at an up angle into the bilge floor to create the > water passage from the bilge floor into the casting. Three 1 1/4" #10 flat > head self tapping screws and some 5200 hold and seal the casting in place. > I note that the flange straddles the hull/keel joint with the majority of > the fitting and two of the three screws in the hull. The third screw is in > the lead. No problems to date. That includes dropping and replacing the > keel during my recent post grounding repair. > > > > There are nylon or bronze plugs with hex sockets available if the notion > of drag caused by the protruding square bolt head impeding perfect water > flow bothers the racing mentality at all. Personally, I can't tell the > difference:). One could also cut the bolt head off the threaded portion and > saw a kerf for a large screwdriver in the end of the threaded bit. > > > > That little gadget is one of the best additions to the boat as it ensures > the bilge dries out completely every haul out and stays that way. I leave a > large note to myself to replace the plug in the spring:) > > Rich Knowles > > Indigo > > 1981 LF 38 > > Halifax. NS > > > On Oct 23, 2013, at 15:16, "Petar Horvatic" <phorv...@gmail.com> wrote: > > Does anyone have pics or advice on how best to install a garboard drain > plug. > > Shallow bildge and external lead keel make it pretty difficult to have > something that is flush on the outside yet encompass the lowest point in > the bildge to allow water to drain. > > > > Petar Horvatic > > Sundowner > > 76 C&C 38MkII > > Newport, RI > > > > > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > This List is provided by the C&C Photo Album > http://www.cncphotoalbum.com > CnC-List@cnc-list.com > > > _______________________________________________ > This List is provided by the C&C Photo Album > http://www.cncphotoalbum.com > CnC-List@cnc-list.com > > -- Dwight Veinot Alianna C&C 35 MKII Head of St. Margaret's Bay, NS
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