drain holes to bilge in C-26?

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CraigWik
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drain holes to bilge in C-26?

Post by CraigWik »

Does anyone have any drawings or sketches or photos showing the locations of drain holes to the bilge in a C-26?

During a recent 4-day trip in the Apostle Islands, we were taking on at least 2-3 gallons of water every day.

I believe most, if not all, of this water was coming from the top of the tube that surrounds the keel cable. I didn't implement the earlier suggestions to put a cork in the top of this tube, because I discovered my tube already had a plastic fitting with a small (1/4" inside diameter) hole for the cable to pass through. But maybe that's too big and I really do need the cork. I was concerned that if the hole was too small, it might jam on the cable.
Does anyone know whether there were other means of keeping water from spurting out of this tube onto the floor with the original boat design and build? It doesn't seem like the original new boat owners would have tolerated puddles on their floors.

At the beginning of our trip, the electric bilge pump wasn't connected yet, and the manual bilge pump was a bother to access under the stern berth floor, with all our gear piled on top, so we just bailed periodically.

On the first day, we didn't notice any water in the locker under the starboard settee, but we were on a starboard tack all day long. On the second day, after we alternated port and starboard tacks, we noticed a couple gallons of water in the locker under the starboard settee. I couldn't tell for sure where this came from, but believe it came from the puddle on the cabin floor when we heeled over to starboard. We had the toe rails down to the waterline quite a few times, so I suppose it could have also come from a leaky joint between the deck and the hull. But I didn't see anyplace where it was running down from above.

On the second day of the trip, we finally fixed the electric bilge pump and started running that. It helped, but there was still generally a puddle on the cabin floor.

The previous owner installed carpeting on the cabin floor, on the centerboard trunk, and on the lower part of the settees. I suspect this is impeding flow of water into the bilge. But before I tear it all up, I was hoping for some hints on where the drain holes might be.

Ultimately (next spring?) I'll probably replace the carpet on the floor with something that won't soak up water. The carpet may also be covering a crack in the centerboard trunk. I think I remember seeing comments on this potential problem earlier. If there is a crack, it must be up high on the trunk. The carpet doesn't seem to get wet sitting at the dock. Only while sailing. And we were getting a lot more water on the floor with the boat fully loaded with fuel, food, gear, and crew, than we were with it lightly loaded on day trips.

Thanks for any advice or insight you can share.

Craig
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EmergencyExit
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Post by EmergencyExit »

Speaking from what I've seen on my two C26's. And assuming no previous owner mods. Going to be wordy to try and explain, but maybe it will shed some light on how the bilger areas are laid out :wink:

Unless there were some holes drilled low in the settee sides by a previous owner, there's not a pathway to under the starboard settees from the cabin sole. Probably you could look under the settees and see if there were any added. That whole sole area is like a shallow bathtub from settee to settee and stern berth to vberth passageway with no built in drains. I added a couple under the sole on EE tho. That lets cabin water run to the small rear bilge.

There is a wide open path from the front of the setees to the area under the head and passageway to the vberth tho. So any water under there would get to the settees. You can look under them and see that forward space with a good flashlight.

Under the sole is either a concrete and lead ballast pour, or on some 77 era ones, its lead bars in foam. The foam has been known to saturate from leaks..

There's likely about an inch of space between the ballast pour and the sole, and the ballast ends just at the point where the rear of the keel trunk fades into the sole, and forward it ends right at the step into the companionway.

So basically there's the open hull under the vberth, sealed at the back of the vberth, then open bilge under the head which is open to the settees. Then there's a bit of space under the cabin sole which is open to the small bilge in the rear.

A far as the leaks, I think a leaky deck joint would pour in a visible area since the joint is above the banquette backs and under the deadlights. EE has a bad toe rail leak in the stern verth and its a waterfall under the right conditions, but very evident..

Question - is the head a portapotty, or the original regular head ? On EE the thruhull that draws water in is always under water so thats probably not leaking since it happens under sail only. But the direct discharge thruhull is above waterline unless you are heeled under SB tack..and maybe that is leaking,

Hope all that sheds a bit light on the bilge areas and how they connect or don't connect...
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CraigWik
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Post by CraigWik »

Thanks for the quick detailed reply.

I'm really surprised there were no drain holes originally from the cabin sole to the bilge. That tells me the original setup must have been completely effective at keeping water from spurting out of the tube that the keel cable runs through. Do you know how large the inside diameter is for your through-hull for this cable? I haven't taken mine apart to inspect it, but looking through the clear hose, it looks like the fitting I.D. might be 1/2" or more. Maybe if it was smaller, I would have less water spurting at the top end. Do you ever have water spurting up through the hole in the cork in your cable tube? Especially with big waves and heavy load in the boat? How tight of a fit is the hole in the cork around the cable?

I believe the head in my boat is the original, but it was originally setup to discharge into a flexible Nauta bladder, which was attached to a deck pumpout fitting for use in marinas. There is no direct discharge through-hull fitting. There is a through-hull for water intake, but it has a seacock that is closed and not leaking. The previous owner disconnected and removed all the supply, discharge, pumpout, and vent hoses from the head, but gave me the flexible bladder and the dimensions of all the hoses. On this trip, we used wag bags, held for use under the seat of the original head. They work fine. A little bit of hassle, but no smell once they are sealed up. But they cost $3.00 each. I'm not sure yet what I'll do for the head, long-term.
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EmergencyExit
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Post by EmergencyExit »

CraigWik wrote:I'm really surprised there were no drain holes originally from the cabin sole to the bilge. That tells me the original setup must have been completely effective at keeping water from spurting out of the tube that the keel cable runs through.
I'm thinking the main reason was the foam they used to encase the lead bars originally,they didn't want any water draining thru the sole at all since there's only that stuff down under the sole. A drain behind the cable would make sense tho, but there's not a lot of bilge back there..

My cable has never leaked, but then again its a flat water boat - cable runs thru a rubbery/plastic stopper fairly tightly. However tight you start with, that cable is going to saw the stopper out to its own happy place due to all the weight of the keel !
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Dayenu
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Post by Dayenu »

I'm wondering this question fits this thread:

I'm looking to install an automatic, electric bilge pump as well as a hand (manually operated "Whale Gusher" pump.

Here's my question: Where can I insert hoses for both pumps into the bilge?

I have a 1978 C-26... My first C-26 was an older 1977 model and I seem to recall that I could access the rear floor compartment under the rear berth. I haven't looked in there on our current boat as there is now a 40 gallon water tank (I need to pull out and re-fit the fittings that I was told, leak (I'll test for leaks in the tank before placing back in the boat).

Most automatic electric bilge pumps require a sensor to be installed to activate the pump... Our manual hand pump came with a filter that is maybe 3" wide by 5" long...

Any thoughts?

(I'll eventually have to remove the water tank and check to see if access can be had through there, but I thought I'd ask here as I read this thread. )

PS: I have no leaks of any kind... Both pumps are just my being cautious and wanting to install a little bit of insurance.

Thanks!

Richard
What we now have, was once, only hoped for...
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EmergencyExit
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Post by EmergencyExit »

Richard, you'll likely be moving that water tank so you can get access to adding a bilge pump back, its pretty much the only way in to that small pocket.

Some pics of the pocket and the rest of the sole area are at these two pages..

http://pwp.att.net/p/s/community.dll?ep ... 280782&ck=

http://pwp.att.net/p/s/community.dll?ep ... 281315&ck=

Craig, pics may help you see the sole/sette joint as well...
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Dayenu
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Post by Dayenu »

That's it!!!

That's what I remember! Tight, but I'll figure out how to do it...

Thank you again!!!!

Richard
What we now have, was once, only hoped for...
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