Deck Inspection Hatch Installed

B

Bill3558

New member
Greeting Fellow Brats,

I couldn't stand it any longer. I knew I had some water trapped under the floor of my 22 cruiser but I couldn't tell how much. So I installed a 4 inch inspection hatch. Pix in my album. Low and behold I had 1/2" of water trapped in there. About 6 1/2 gallons.

I have rebedded and resealed everything I can think of so I hope the water accumulation problem goes away. I had previously installed a small drain hole in the forward part of the bilge depression per the factor suggestion. As you can see in the picture it was ineffective because you could not get it low enough to drain all the water.

I can live with the appearance knowing I can easily drain and dry under there if I need to. Not the best design in my humble opinion.

By the way dont be an idiot like me and assume a 4" hatch requires a 4" hole. Nope, it has to be 4.5 inches.
 
How did you know you had trapped water? I have tried rocking my 2007, and listening carefully, but hear nothing. What kind of hatch did you use? Any advice on installing, besides drilling a 4.5 inch hole at the start?
 
BILL3558-

Nice job!

How about we show the installation?

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Found 1/2 of trapped water. Boat level.
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See how ineffective the hole in the bilge well is. You would have to have almost 2" of water before it would even reach the hole.
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Finished product. Now I can open, inspect, dry out if needed.
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Joe. :teeth :thup
 
I knew I had water because I could stick my finger in bilge hole and feel it. I could put a small hose in and suck some out but was not getting much.

Ignore the dates on the first 2 pix. I didnt have the camera set right.

Thanks Joe for putting the pictures up.
 
Bill3558 & Brats,

This is only one of several "design deficiencies" the C-Dory suffers from! It certainly points toward returning to the "lift-out" cockpit sole used several years back. The "standard" resins used in hull construction are quite permeable! Just think what may be happening to the "balsa wood coring" used in the hull with water present all the time! Balsa wood coring is a great material for use in RV and other non-boat manufacturing. "High density rigid foam" on the other hand is always the "first choice" of quality boat builders and must be used under "Lloyds A-1" certified construction. And it adds very little additional cost compared with balsa wood.
 
Barry, you have me worried about your comments regarding the inner hull being "permeable".

I had the area dried out pretty well and put the cap back on a week ago. I just checked and the cap had droplets of condensation and the inner floor was wet. We have had no rain and the boat is on the trailer. Do you think its possible moisture is "wicking" up out of the fiberglass and god forbid the balsa core?

The boat has always sat low in the water. I wonder if I have a serious problem. The only solution I think would be a core sample. The boat is a 2005 I purchased in 2006 from Wefings. Maybe I will give them a call. But I would like to get your opinion as well as any others from the brats first.

Thanks,

Bill
 
Bill,

Sorry to have caused the concern expressed in your reply! Most of what I said was directed at the C-Dory factory. Early this year I wanted a new 2010 cruiser built but when I approached factory staff and made suggestions about "rigid foam" as a core material, was totally ignored! Subsequently I found and purchased a 2006 model cruiser which is now experiencing the same "water under cockpit sole" problem! From viewing your photos it appears that our boats have identical cockpit soles. I'll be leaving the boat in storage at Wisconsin over the winter. Before putting it away I discovered a small 1/4" hole, which can only be seen using a small mirror, on the aft vertical surface of the cockpit sole at the bilge pump sump depression. Its my opinion this hole was drilled during construction with staff well aware of the problem! I drove the rig to a very steep hill, cleaned the 1/4" hole with a piece of that weed-whacker line, and let it drain for thirty minutes. My feelings, based on imperical experience using polyester resins, is to not worry about water intrusion into the balsa coring unless there are fasteners that penetrate the hull laminate. The "inspection port" installation should allow evacuation and drying of any water found and I'd leave it open during storage. Of course this will continue to be a chronic problem and is why I made the suggestion that the "lift-out" sole be a "production revision". Please feel free to contact me direct if you would like to discuss the matter further.
PH: 520-220-7552
Email: N9DXC@hotmail.com
 
Bill,

The balsa core vs foam core issue has been hashed and re-hashed many, many times. Properly sealed with fiberglass the balsa core is not an issue as many, many very functional and fairly old C-Dories demonstrate. When there is a penetration through the fiberglass, it can cause core rot. Foam is heavier and not impervious to water absorption either. As to the resins being permeable, if they are coated with gel coat or other sealants (and these surfaces are gel coated in the C-Dories), it's not a problem. If it were, all boats that were moored for an extensive period of time would eventually become saturated with water (which clearly doesn't happen). I would suggest that you do some searches to locate some of Thataway Bob's previous discussions of the relative characteristics of foam and balsa. Unless you have a penetration through the fiberglass, I don't think you have anything to worry about.

Barry,

I'm quite surprise that a 1/4" hole took 30 mins to drain. The balsa core is end grain balsa and when/if there is a problem with a hole into the core, the typical experience has been that the damage is generally limited to a very small area near the hole (like a 1/4" to a 1/2"). End grain generally doesn't wick that much. It could be that the fiberglass layup in you boat was particularly poorly done and resin did not penetrate the "siping" in the core - e.g. the cores have slots cut in them in both dimensions that allow the core to be bent into the hull shape. If those slots are not fully filled with resin during the layup, they create channels that can hold a good bit of water and that can allow water to migrate long distances within the core. In a good vacuum bag or injected layup, this shouldn't be a problem, it's more common in hand layup (at least according to Scott at the factory during our Sat. course).
 
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