Flotation Compartment Drain?

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Flotation Compartment Drain?

Postby Signalcharlie » Fri Oct 02, 2015 11:56 am

On a previous DS the FIL had there were 2 drain plugs on the aft end of the flotation compartment, inside the boat. Water could be drained out there, into the cockpit and out the self bailer. On our current 1971 DS there is a hole about 1/3 the way up the transom and a self bailer.

Were the flotation compartment drains on the other Daysailer factory or add ons? And would there be a benefit to adding those drains? Seems that any small amount of water in the bilge would not be high enough to drain out.

In the meantime we check for water through 2 four inch inspection ports that are on the floor just aft of the cuddy opening. Are those ports factory installed?

Thanks!
Kent and Skipper
1971 DS II #4624 "CYANE"
Small Boat Restoration blog http://smallboatrestoration.blogspot.com/p/o.html
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Re: Flotation Compartment Drain?

Postby jeadstx » Fri Oct 02, 2015 7:34 pm

The 4" ports in the cockpit are factory. As for not having a bilge drain, I believe there should have been one, although maybe not since your DS II is a very early one. Later boats have the drain above the waterline and the auto bailer plus a bilge drain. I've seen bilge drains both as a single one in the center and two drains, one to each side of center. The DS I boats didn't have a drain in the transom and that may have carried over to the early DS II models.

Have you checked to make sure the drain wasn't sealed by a previous owner? I have seen this done on a couple boats. Adding the drain would be beneficial to easily empty the bilge of any water that might get in there.

John
1976 Day Sailer II, #8075 - Completed the 2011, 2012, and 2013 Texas 200
1952 Beetle Boat Swan Catboat
Early Rhodes 19
1973 Mariner 2+2, #2607 - Completed 2014, 2015 and 2016 Texas 200
1969 Day Sailer I, #3229
Fleet 135; Canyon Lake, Texas
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Re: Flotation Compartment Drain?

Postby GFP » Tue May 17, 2016 9:15 pm

I just bought a Daysailer 2 and there are two round twistie caps on each side of the center board. And when I unscrewed one of them their was water about 2 inches deep and some foam. What is this for and does it need to be water free?
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Re: Flotation Compartment Drain?

Postby jeadstx » Wed May 18, 2016 4:04 am

Those are the inspection ports for the bilge. You should have a bilge drain plug in the stern of the boat (transom down near the keel). Open it and allow the water to drain. There are 3 drain openings. The bilge drain, the self bailer (which may or may not still work) which can be seen in the floor of the sump inside the stern of the boat, and a drain above the waterline in the center of the transom.

The bilge drain is to drain water that may collect in the bilge while sailing. It is below the waterline and should be plugged while sailing.
The self bailer, if working, drains water from the cockpit. If your self bailer is original to the boat, it may no longer work and need to have a stopper in it while sailing. If you are lucky, it has been replaced and works.
The other drain above the waterline, I'm not real sure what that one is really for other than making sure to much water doesn't collect in the cockpit. I keep a plug in it while sailing and unplug it and the self bailer when the boat is on the trailer.

If you are new to the Day Sailer, a good source of parts if needed is D&R Marine.

John
1976 Day Sailer II, #8075 - Completed the 2011, 2012, and 2013 Texas 200
1952 Beetle Boat Swan Catboat
Early Rhodes 19
1973 Mariner 2+2, #2607 - Completed 2014, 2015 and 2016 Texas 200
1969 Day Sailer I, #3229
Fleet 135; Canyon Lake, Texas
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Re: Flotation Compartment Drain?

Postby TIM WEBB » Wed May 18, 2016 10:33 am

I've heard the above-waterline drain referred to as a mooring drain, so rainwater can drain out of boat on a mooring or in a slip.

The foam you see in there is from floatation in the seat tanks. Over time some of it can break free and fall into the bilge. Most folks find that foam to be waterlogged, pull it out of there, and replace it with pool noodles or empty soda bottles or the like.

Depending on the year of your boat, it may have a centerboard pivot bolt, which you would access through those two ports. On John and my boats at least, the ends of that bolt are covered in some kind of hard goop that makes it impossible to get at. In late '79/early '80 I believe, O'Day switched to a pivot pin held up in the CB trunk by two wedges, which are held in place by two retainer plates on either side of the trunk opening.
Tim Webb
1979 DS2 10099 The Red Witch
(I used to be Her "staff", in the way dogs have owners and cats have staff, but alas no longer ... <pout>)
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Re: Flotation Compartment Drain?

Postby tinafred » Thu May 19, 2016 10:15 pm

Dear Tim, I just cleaned/resealed the plates/wedges on my 1986 (built in 87). Two 1/4 in X 20 SS machine screws with one #8 X 1/2 in round head coarse screw placed in the center of each plate per side. It was leaking at this point due to two striped thread machine screws. I have images, but still learning on this forum. There was a slight leak at the bilge drain with cover plate removed, clean and new caulk applied. I also discovered a garden hose washer fits on the drain giving a complete seal, i.e...no more leak.
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Re: Flotation Compartment Drain?

Postby tinafred » Fri May 20, 2016 10:02 pm

I went sailing at Canyon Lake today after the aforementioned repairs/rechaulk with zero water at the bilge drain. To repeat, I cleaned/scraped off old goop, reapplied a heathy amount of BoatLife chalk to the cockpit drain, bilge drain, and the wedge plate. Took all of 30 min, Ta-Da no water after 1 hour sailing.
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Re: Flotation Compartment Drain?

Postby TIM WEBB » Sat May 21, 2016 11:30 am

Success! I love the hose washer on the drain plug idea ...
Tim Webb
1979 DS2 10099 The Red Witch
(I used to be Her "staff", in the way dogs have owners and cats have staff, but alas no longer ... <pout>)
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Re: Flotation Compartment Drain?

Postby Skippa » Sat May 21, 2016 7:32 pm

I keep my DS II on a mooring and a few years ago before I got a cockpit cover, I forgot to pull the plug on the higher up "Cockpit Drain" . Of course it rained heavy that night. I left the house around midnight, Rowed out to the mooring and pulled the plug. The boat was riding low in the water and had an easy 6 inches of water in the main cockpit. After pulling the plug, I could feel the water running out the transom as if it was a water hose. The boat rose in the water and all was good.
Moral of the story............ Don't forget to pull the plug on departure.
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Re: Flotation Compartment Drain?

Postby pboulanger » Sun May 07, 2017 6:21 pm

Curious about drains, as we'll be putting our DSII on a mooring next weekend, but our boat only seems to have two drainage holes... the bilge drain which sits below the waterline, and the cockpit drain towards the aft that drains when we're underway. There's no drainage hole higher up on the transom in case the boat takes on too much rainwater or anything like that, which other people have mentioned. Is this normal?

I plan on leaving the bilge drain plugged while on the mooring, but should I also plug the drain on the floor of the cockpit when we're not sailing? Or, if it rains for a couple days, will the boat take on too much water? Or, option 2, if I leave the bottom cockpit drain open and it rains for a couple days, will the boat find a happy equilibrium and not flood too much. Thanks!

EDIT: I meant to include a photo of the transom so people could see what I meant. This was mid-sanding/painting, so you may need to zoom in to get a clearer picture. Thanks for your help, sorry to resurrect a dead thread! http://i.imgur.com/0vMfUms.jpg
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Re: Flotation Compartment Drain?

Postby GreenLake » Mon May 08, 2017 12:15 am

Bilge drain would need to remain closed, you don't want to allow water into the watertight part of the hull while afloat. You are relying on the air trapped between cockpit and hull for flotation, after all. (Some people fill the space under the seats with things like empty, sealed water bottles, or whatnot, to make sure that even if water gets into the bilge, there's enough reserve flotation to at least stay afloat.)

If you leave the cockpit drain open and there's a lot of rain, the excess water should simply drain out.

However, if you have a slow leak into your bilge, your boat will need to be hauled and drained. (Or you could fit a bilge pump, just in case, but that has its own issues -- see recent thread on installing a bilge pump).
~ green ~ lake ~ ~
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Re: Flotation Compartment Drain?

Postby jeadstx » Mon May 08, 2017 2:24 am

Your boat looks like it has a mounting for the rudder that is found on newer DS I boats. May be a replacement for the old gudgeons which would have covered the drain. Here is a picture of the stern on my 1976 DS II showing the bilge drain (plugged) and the above water drain (plug not in yet, I put it in before launching). The cockpit drain in the sump area of the cockpit can not be seen. All that gear in the cockpit was being put in the cuddy cabin for the Texas 200 that particular year.

My bilge area is packed with "pool noodles" for flotation.

Ladder.JPG
Ladder.JPG (46.34 KiB) Viewed 11656 times


John
1976 Day Sailer II, #8075 - Completed the 2011, 2012, and 2013 Texas 200
1952 Beetle Boat Swan Catboat
Early Rhodes 19
1973 Mariner 2+2, #2607 - Completed 2014, 2015 and 2016 Texas 200
1969 Day Sailer I, #3229
Fleet 135; Canyon Lake, Texas
jeadstx
 
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