Important C-dory Tip!

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timflan

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May 16, 2006
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C Dory Year
2005
C Dory Model
22 Cruiser
Vessel Name
Two Lucky Fish +1
When you leave the boat, especially if you expect any snow, rain, or wind, always be sure to turn on the automatic bilge pump.
 
Thanks Tim. But, if it's an automatic bilge pump, you shouldn't have to turn it on. It should be on all the time. There should be a switch to manually operate a bilge pump, but no way to turn it off short of removing the fuse. The pump should also be wired directly to the battery. IMHO
 
Roger, that makes a LOT of sense. I'm ALL FOR this idea.

For some reason, mine's got an intermediate "off" position. Why I left it in that position will forever remain a mystery. Oh wait. I just remembered that I had the kids "kill the engine" after I tied up the last time, and they got a little overenthusiastic, turning off all the switches and electronics. They were trying to be helpful, and indeed, it was helpful. They probably adjusted every switch so that any illuminate lamps went to black. Good girls!

Yep, just checked with Kiera, and she says yes, she turned all the lights off on the switch panel. She says she won't do that again.

Suffice to say, hand-pump bilge pumps work reasonably well. Having just had the same thing happen in October, (my fault that time...I switched both batteries off), I had already reconfigured all the "foot locker" storage to eliminate water-damagable items. So this time, there isn't really anything to do but let it dry out.

The good news is that there is no water in the V-berth, so my foredeck hatch re-bed appears to have been successful.
 
In addition to leaving the bilge pump on all the time, you might consider a second bilge pump that is ALSO on all the time and on a different switch AND wired directly to the battery (the switch being available to bypass the float switch and manually turn it on in the event of stuck switch or a desire to pump a little water out).
 
I have that second pump at the stern, but it only kicks in when the boat is underway...or the water is really deep. Trouble is, with the boat sitting in the water, the cockpit overflows out of the foreward bilge-pump sump BEFORE the aft bilge pump kicks in, apparently.

Actually, this is pretty likely. It's always troubled me that the cut-out for the bilge pump hose makes it that much more likely that water will overflow into the cabin. In fact, I wonder of the aft automatic bilge MIGHT keep up with the rain, even with the foreward pump offline, if the foreward sump didn't overflow into the cabin with anything more than about two inches of water in it!
 
timflan":3g4snrjo said:
I have that second pump at the stern, but it only kicks in when the boat is underway...or the water is really deep. Trouble is, with the boat sitting in the water, the cockpit overflows out of the foreward bilge-pump sump BEFORE the aft bilge pump kicks in, apparently.
Click to expand...

Tim,
I doubt that is the case and would suggest that you most likely have water entering the cabin from elsewhere. I used to moore my 22 and had water in the cabin on a few occasions early on. There are several places it could come in:

1) The rub rails - several people have had problems with bad seals around the rub rail attachment points.
2) The brass stem guard on the bow - check to see if the water tastes salty. If not, and you're moored in salt water AND/OR you only have the problem when it rains, this is not a concern.
3) I had a problem when I first got my boat that had me vexed for awhile. In brief, the seal between the fill port for the fresh water tank and the walkway was no good. When it rained, water collects right at the fill port and would run into the cabin. It entered behind the port side rear seat, ran down the side wall to the floor and ultimately emerged on the cabin floor. It took me a long time to figure out that this was the source of my problem. I had to wait for a really rainy day and spend a few hours on the boat in the evening to figure this out.
4) The nylon plug under the door. IF this is not sealed, water will enter the cabin through this area as the area at the center of the door is the low spot.

The bilge well inside the cabin is several inches deep so it would be very difficult for water to overflow that area and enter the cabin prior to the pump at the stern running.

timflan":3g4snrjo said:
Actually, this is pretty likely. It's always troubled me that the cut-out for the bilge pump hose makes it that much more likely that water will overflow into the cabin. In fact, I wonder of the aft automatic bilge MIGHT keep up with the rain, even with the foreward pump offline, if the foreward sump didn't overflow into the cabin with anything more than about two inches of water in it!
Click to expand...

The sump well should be about 3-4" deep and at least in my 22 (which has the sump to the starboard side), I don't think there is a cut out in the sump well. As far as the pumps keeping up with the rain, there's plenty of capacity. The entire cockpit area is only about 20 sq. ft. Today we received of order 3-5" of rain over a 12 hour period (a little higher in some places). Even at 1"/hour, 20sq. ft. would only collect about 20sq. ft * 1/12ft = 1,67 cu ft of water per hour = about 12 gallon per hour. Your bilge pump is probably rated at 1100 GPH and even the small ones are 500 GPH.
 
timflan":pk2ada37 said:
When you leave the boat, especially if you expect any snow, rain, or wind, always be sure to turn on the automatic bilge pump.
Click to expand...

I wire all bilge pumps with a helm switch wired through the Batt S/W and a Float S/W wired directly to one of the batterys :wink: :mrgreen: :beer I only have the one pump, it's in the cockpit @ the plug, never any water in the cabin.
 
OK, I tested it today. I turned off the forward bilge pump and turned on the hose.

Sure enough, when the water gets high enough, it spills into the cabin via the cutout in the bilge well. I'm going to seal up this gap somehow. Probably use the polysulfide LifeCaulk product...I've got tons of it leftover from my recent foredeck hatch rebed.

I used duct tape to artificially "repair" the cutout, just to satisfy myself that the aft bilge pump was working. Yup! The water has to get JUST BARELY higher than the bottom edge of the bilge well cutout for the aft pump to kick in. If it does kick in, it drains quite a lot of water out, in a hurry. But if water is able to escape (into the cabin), then the float switch on the aft pump never kicks over.

Right now my fuel tanks are both empty, so the aft may be sitting higher than normal. So it might not happen with full tanks.

I like redundancy, so I'm going to keep the forward bilge pump in the AUTOMATIC position whenever I leave the boat, AND I'm going to seal up the bottom of the cutout to enable the aft bilge pump to do its thing. Whew!

Good day to dry out the boat, but the way: lots of breeze, no rain, and 55 degree weather. I had an electric heater going and all the windows and hatches open...lots of evaporation and ventillation today!
 
So how low is the cutout in the bilge well? Also, do you have a lot of weight stored forward? Something still doesn't seem right - my 22 did not sit so far bow down that the rear bilge pump would not pump before water spilled over the bilge well.
 
I forgot my camera today, or I would'a made a purty pitcher for y'all. I probably won't be back tomorrow, but I'll add a picture here, since I've left the threshold step off for drying purposes.
 
timflan,

I know what you're saying about water running under the cutout under the bilge well. Same thing happened to us when the boat was left out in the rain overnight at Twin Bridges. There was a couple of inches of water in the cabin, what a mess!

I think that should be another project to add to my ever-growing list, seal the gap in the bottom. Good idea about leaving the bilge pump in the automatic position. Are you concerned about a power drain on the battery?

Also, something else I thought about was to keep at least the camperback bimini top up if rain is expected. Any rainwater should fall into the motor well, not in the cockpit.

Peter
C-Dancer
 
I'm not concerned about the battery...it's on a charger with shore power.

I am concerned about leaving the canvas up, because of the wind.
 
Think about a mooring cover, the slant back canvas from the rear of the roof to the transom. I've even towed with it on occasion and it is fine. Also, when the boat is on the trailer I pull the plug and take fuse out of the direct wire to the bilge pump.
 
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