22 Cruiser, How To Get The Bilge Water Out?

No re-inforcing structure in the floor there. There may be extra glass from the one piece floor which was set on top of the inner side of the hull. Not structural. Be sure not to invade the core if you are smoothing the hole etc.

You still want to have a fitting to remove any water--because some boats which don't have a drain hole there, got water under the floor. Logical place is just outside the cabin door. Small access plate would work there,
 
Are you sure it is rain water? Do you know where it is coming from? I think I would want those answered too.

Harvey
SleepyC :moon

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I don’t think there is any seawater involved here, but I do need to make sure

I looked closer at the hole today and it’s closer to 5/8 diameter, and the bottom of the hole is about an inch off the inside bottom of the hull. Not real close

With the way the stern seems to be “down “ at rest I can’t help thinking that water collects back there under the sole. Tomorrow I’m going to put a level on the sole to see if that tells me something

But at this point I’m thinking the place to put a deck plate is the shelf between the fuel tanks, close to the pump sump
 
You want to put the deck plate--could be just a flush fuel fill, that you can get a plastic tube for a vane type pump to remove the water--forward where the water collects.
 
My 22' cruiser (Nowhere Fast) is a 2008 with the same cockpit setup. When I got it a year ago, I found water below the cockpit shoe. I traced the problem (primarily) to the screw holes that held the gas tank covers to the shoe. They pierced the shoe where there is no balsa and allowed water ingress. I removed the gas tank covers, filled the holes (and a few others near the bilge pump) and added an inspection port in the cockpit shoe. I also re-calked the joint between the shoe and the aft cabin wall. Since then, the bilge below the shoe has been dry. I would recommend looking for leaks where I found them as well as around the gas tank tie downs. I think you should be able to keep that bilge sealed and dry -- I do recommend an inspection port to make sure
 
Every time one of these threads comes up it get me wondering. So I went out and drilled a hole in the vertical piece where they anchor the gas tank panels. I put a camera in there and it is dry as a bone. There are two compartments separated by a stringer. I asked the factory about how the floor gets installed and they told me that is glassed in all the way around. The only holes they drill are the hold downs for the tanks and two holes for the gas tank panels. My bilge pump is just glued down. The gap between bulkhead and the floor gets chaulked to keep the junk out water shouldn’t get in that way. You could use a well nut and fender washer to seal the hole. I’m going to thread mine for a 1/2” bolt and put some 4000 on it.
 
With the drain hole (or should I call it the flooding hole?) there is no doubt where the water is coming from. That needs to be plugged with fiberglass, and whether I later bore a larger, lower hole and install a removable plug is TBD.
I had stuffed the hole with closed cell foam as it was too wet for tape to stick. I later taped it.

jkidd":1jmpiit2 said:
There are two compartments separated by a stringer.
Click to expand...

This is helpful! Do you mean a longitudinal stringer running down the centerline? Is it secured to both the underside of the sole, and to the hull, and how far aft does it go? Or have I misunderstood what you are saying?

My thought now is to plug the hole, and install a deck plate back there between the fuel tanks, large enough to give good ventilation.
 
It runs down the centerline all the way front to back and looks like it’s glassed to the floor. I can’t tell what they did to the top of the stringer. My hole was a 1/2” and I sealed it with a well nut. It can be removed to check for water later.
 
Jody's idea of using a "well nut" is excellent. For those who do not know what a "Well Nut" is: 41hKJw7w0pL.jpg

The large flange goes on the outside, a washer and machine screw of bolt of appropriate size and thread is inserted into the brass threaded section. Tightening the machine screw/bolt, caused the inner part of the rubber to expand giving an excellent seal on the inside.

Basically many of our expanding drain plugs are another version of a well nut.

You don't really want to glass this drain hole over until you are certain that there is no other source of water intrusion under the floor. Many boats without the drain have had water intrusion. Most have been related to poor caulking at the forward end. But some have been from poor adhesion or glassing at the aft end. The solid single part floor, was an offshoot of the two part removable floor which came in the mid 2000 era. give or take era as an option. My 2006 C Dory 22 had the two part. Some of the 2007 boats had the single glassed in floor.
 
Many thanks for all the recent posts with information and suggestions!

I've been AWOL with no computer for the last few days, so just now reading these posts. But I've seen quite a difference in how much water remains within the cockpit after rainstorms since I've temporarily closed off the drain hole. I'll look for a well-nut.
 
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