Hi David (and everybody else on the list) Everyone probably already knows this, and would NEVER do it themselves, but...
If you cork the stern drains, don't forget to remove the corks when you leave the boat. I have a seacock at the stern drain, and closed it off one sail when I had a few guests aboard to prevent water flowing in from the slightly overweight contents of the cockpit. I forgot to open it up when I packed up for the day. When I came back to the boat the next weekend, I noticed she was sitting kinda funny in the water. We'd had a heavy rain during the week, and the cockpit was filled with water. Opening the main hatch, I discovered that the water had flown over the sill and partially covered the cabin sole to about three inches. I pumped like crazy. Luckily it didn't reach anything electrical and there was no real damage, but there was condensation and plenty of mildew everywhere. I took the opportunity to give the boat a good wash and complete wipedown of the interior. No damage, but it was embarrasing and potentially disasterous. I like the idea of using a cork, 'cause there's an obvious visual cue. A scheduled improvement to my boat will be a laminated fiberglass sill that will go under the traveller and bolted to the boat (so another owner can undo it if he/she wants) as well as a straight thru-hull between the transom and the cockpit, above the level of the cockpit sole but below the top of the sill. Best to all BG -- Brian Gilbert Author, Fix It And Sail, The Complete Trailer-Sailor Marine Media 3404 Hartford Dr Chattanooga, TN 37415 www.sailingsmall.com From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Reply-To: [email protected] Date: Thu, 01 Nov 2007 21:25:49 -0600 To: [email protected] Subject: montgomery_boats Digest, Vol 57, Issue 1 For the stern drains I simply bought a couple of 85-cent corks at the hardware store and stick them in before I leave the mooring. In the event I take on serious water (has happened a couple of times) I can just kick them out with my toe and things drain. David Hill M17 619 Grouper _______________________________________________ http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/montgomery_boats
