86 Hunter 23 Cabin Drain

[aduroguy]

Hi all, been looking around the threads reading about leaks on hunter 23's and water pooling under the cabin floor boards. I had thought that the cabin floor board well drains, drained into the bilge in the stern where the battery and my bilge pump are. I was cleaning the boat today and we used a garden hose to clean out the bottom of the cabin with the boat in the water. Water is draining out of the cabin but it's not draining to the stern where I have the pump. There is always water in the cabin just below the removable floor boards where the keel bolts are. I have seen several post say that a hunter of this vintage does and does not have a double hull. So couple of questions...

1. Where does the water from the cabin drain? Where is it going?

2. Does the 86 hunter have a inner and outer hull?

After I realized that the water wasn't getting removed by the bilge pump I became very nervous that there is a lot of water at the bottom of my boat somewhere.

 

[MrUnix]

1. Where does the water from the cabin drain? Where is it going?

2. Does the 86 hunter have a inner and outer hull?

Answer #1: On mine, it doesn't drain anywhere but into a bucket aided by a sponge Those little 'pockets' under the floorboards on my H23 don't have any limber holes to allow the water to escape.. something that I plan on adding as soon. I know some others do have them, but not sure if they are factory drilled or done by a PO.

Answer #2: Sort of.. there is space between the cabin floor and hull in most areas, such as directly under the companionway. Drilling the aforementioned holes will allow the water to escape into that area and work it's way back behind the rear bulkhead, provided you have some holes to let it through there as well (again, mine is lacking in that department).

Cheers,
Brad

 

[aduroguy]

Mine has the holes in each pocket/well. The hole in the one that would be the first floor board when you come in from the companionway seems to be where the water is escaping to. I tried cleaning it out with a coat hanger and I can place the straightened coat hanger all the way into the hole without hitting anything. I can't however find a hole on the other side of the rear bulk head. So wondering how much water could be in that space between the cabin floor and the hull and if that can cause any damage.

 

[isaksp00]

Mine came from PO with limber holes in the walls of these pockets, right near the floor. However, I think that this area may be about the lowest point on the boat, as water from there does not drain to the rear lazarette area - I use either my manual bilge pump or a sponge, depending on how much water is in there.

Look where the keel bolts are, you can see where the hull is. If there is any space at all below the floor of these pockets, and above the hull, it must be very narrow. I think that what you see is the hull itself. The H23 does not have a double hull per se, in that you can see the inside of the hull when in the lazarette. I would not drill down into the floor of these at all, unless you are intending to go through the hull, such as for a transducer.