I have finally hauled out - the first Nova Scotia winter for my '83 37C. I want to install a bilge drain (garboard plug)to keep the bilge dry
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Pour antifreeze in the bilge and be done.
Jim: I really do not think that this is a good idea. For $5 you can pour a gallon of -100 antifreeze in the bilge and be done with it. When you drill this hole there is no way to prevent the water from getting into the hull structure. What do other northern clime sailors do?
Jim: I really do not think that this is a good idea. For $5 you can pour a gallon of -100 antifreeze in the bilge and be done with it. When you drill this hole there is no way to prevent the water from getting into the hull structure. What do other northern clime sailors do?
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David Foster
What damage would ice do?
On a flat surface, the little bit of ice that might form in my bilge is harmless. Also, my bilge stays quite dry through the winter. David Lady Lillie
On a flat surface, the little bit of ice that might form in my bilge is harmless. Also, my bilge stays quite dry through the winter. David Lady Lillie
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Bill Murray
get it dry
pump it out - mop up with a sponge or wet vac -just get it dry. My boat will stay dry all winter so I stop there. My old boat had minor leaks so I put a gallon of pink stuff in bilge. If your battery is still aboard - disconnect the automatic bilge pump. Bill Murray SV Good Faith H29.5
pump it out - mop up with a sponge or wet vac -just get it dry. My boat will stay dry all winter so I stop there. My old boat had minor leaks so I put a gallon of pink stuff in bilge. If your battery is still aboard - disconnect the automatic bilge pump. Bill Murray SV Good Faith H29.5
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Claude L.-Auger
Don't drill any holes
Steve, Bill and David gave you the answer and I'll just add my 2 cents: just in case. raise the bilge pump so it does not get stuck in any ice that might form. With the antifreeze, if there is ice forming because you have water coming in, it will only be like sludge anyway, and whatever expansion there is will be upwards. My boat has been on the hard for 6 weeks now, and will be subjected to temperatures reaching to -30/35 around January. I have never had a problem using the methods referred to. Good Luck.
Steve, Bill and David gave you the answer and I'll just add my 2 cents: just in case. raise the bilge pump so it does not get stuck in any ice that might form. With the antifreeze, if there is ice forming because you have water coming in, it will only be like sludge anyway, and whatever expansion there is will be upwards. My boat has been on the hard for 6 weeks now, and will be subjected to temperatures reaching to -30/35 around January. I have never had a problem using the methods referred to. Good Luck.
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Barrie McDonald
Don't Drill Any New Holes in Your Hull
Jim, As a former maritimer I know how cold it gets down in Halifax,however, don't drill any holes through your hull, its just not a good idea. Use a bit of anti-freeze and be done with it. Who knows what can of worms you might open up by drilling a new hole through your boats hull.Its really not worth it. Abit of ice in your bilge is a lot less damaging than a new hole in your boat. Barrie
Jim, As a former maritimer I know how cold it gets down in Halifax,however, don't drill any holes through your hull, its just not a good idea. Use a bit of anti-freeze and be done with it. Who knows what can of worms you might open up by drilling a new hole through your boats hull.Its really not worth it. Abit of ice in your bilge is a lot less damaging than a new hole in your boat. Barrie
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Jim Legere
OK, I hear you!
The consensus is "Don't Drill". Down here, where there are still lots of wooden boats, garboard drains are a necessity to keep from freezing the garboard planks off the hull. Admittedly this is not a problem with glass boats and, given the small amount of water that leaks into the bilge on my 37, antifreeze is probably all that is required. On the flip side, I have seen boat owners trying to chip cubic feet of ice out of the bilge after cockpit drains froze and other calamities. (The deck drains and anchor locker drain on a 37 are vulnerable plastic plumbing that could leak to the bilge...)I had a bilge drain on my last boat, a Swedish-built Vega, and never had any trouble with it. What will I do? Probably not much this year except pour in some antifreeze and monitor the situation. But I can't help but think that a dry winter bilge is a worthy goal...
The consensus is "Don't Drill". Down here, where there are still lots of wooden boats, garboard drains are a necessity to keep from freezing the garboard planks off the hull. Admittedly this is not a problem with glass boats and, given the small amount of water that leaks into the bilge on my 37, antifreeze is probably all that is required. On the flip side, I have seen boat owners trying to chip cubic feet of ice out of the bilge after cockpit drains froze and other calamities. (The deck drains and anchor locker drain on a 37 are vulnerable plastic plumbing that could leak to the bilge...)I had a bilge drain on my last boat, a Swedish-built Vega, and never had any trouble with it. What will I do? Probably not much this year except pour in some antifreeze and monitor the situation. But I can't help but think that a dry winter bilge is a worthy goal...
Wood boats are not Fiberglass
Jim: There is a difference in wood and fiberglass. Wood actually get pickled by sea water. It causes the fibers to swell up and seals the joints etc. If you do this to a fiberglass boat you are going to allow the water to get into the core of the boats fiberglass. If you pour 1-2 gals. of RV antifreeze into the bilge it will prevent the type of ice buildup that you mentioned. When you launch the boat the bilge pump will just pump it overboard safely. Even if the antifreeze starts to freeze because it is diluted, it does not expand like plain water. If you boat is leaking with tarps over it you may want to find the source of the leak and fix them.
Jim: There is a difference in wood and fiberglass. Wood actually get pickled by sea water. It causes the fibers to swell up and seals the joints etc. If you do this to a fiberglass boat you are going to allow the water to get into the core of the boats fiberglass. If you pour 1-2 gals. of RV antifreeze into the bilge it will prevent the type of ice buildup that you mentioned. When you launch the boat the bilge pump will just pump it overboard safely. Even if the antifreeze starts to freeze because it is diluted, it does not expand like plain water. If you boat is leaking with tarps over it you may want to find the source of the leak and fix them.
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Ed Schenck
From an H37C owner.
Jim, is your mast down and the hole covered? Keel-stepped boats are different. I take on quite a lot of water over the course of the winter(5 months) on Lake Erie. There is no way to seal all the mast holes from the rain except to unstep it. I use a couple of gallons of anti-freeze in the bilge(after unscrewing the float switch for the pump and raising it). Even with that I find a slush when I visit the boat. If you only have snow and no rain it's probably not an issue. Water freezing in the cockpit scupper hoses is a more serious concern.
Jim, is your mast down and the hole covered? Keel-stepped boats are different. I take on quite a lot of water over the course of the winter(5 months) on Lake Erie. There is no way to seal all the mast holes from the rain except to unstep it. I use a couple of gallons of anti-freeze in the bilge(after unscrewing the float switch for the pump and raising it). Even with that I find a slush when I visit the boat. If you only have snow and no rain it's probably not an issue. Water freezing in the cockpit scupper hoses is a more serious concern.
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Steve Cunning
bilge
Hi Jim.... looking for a 37 hunter C and would much appreciate any knowledge before purchasing... things to look out for you know... thanks. Will let you know what pops up.. Steve
Hi Jim.... looking for a 37 hunter C and would much appreciate any knowledge before purchasing... things to look out for you know... thanks. Will let you know what pops up.. Steve
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Jim Legere
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Merrill Masse
NTAF AND PLUGS
I've owned a 1981 H37C here on Malletts Bay, Lake Champlain , Vermont for the past 8 seasons (winters). I remove the batteries from my boat for the winter, pour into my bilge, 2 gallons of -50 degree F Non-Toxic Anti Freeze (2 gals of -100F would be better) and put round wooden plugs in the deck scuppers which drain down thru hoses to through-hulls high on the hull topside. Here in Vt. it gets down below 0 degrees F for weeks on end and below -25 for two or three days a few times as well. I have never had a problem with the little water that's left in my bilge from residue in the bilge pump hose when the pump shuts off, or from any additional water that works its way in when we sometimes have that infrequent thaw. I think 8 winters is experience enough. Good Luck, Merrill H37C Persistence
I've owned a 1981 H37C here on Malletts Bay, Lake Champlain , Vermont for the past 8 seasons (winters). I remove the batteries from my boat for the winter, pour into my bilge, 2 gallons of -50 degree F Non-Toxic Anti Freeze (2 gals of -100F would be better) and put round wooden plugs in the deck scuppers which drain down thru hoses to through-hulls high on the hull topside. Here in Vt. it gets down below 0 degrees F for weeks on end and below -25 for two or three days a few times as well. I have never had a problem with the little water that's left in my bilge from residue in the bilge pump hose when the pump shuts off, or from any additional water that works its way in when we sometimes have that infrequent thaw. I think 8 winters is experience enough. Good Luck, Merrill H37C Persistence
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