Catalina 30 Steering radial well question

[DPotter]

So I had to open up the compartment on my 94 Cat 30 where the steering radial lives to adjust the cables. Previous owner had thoughtfully glued the hatch down with some kind of caulk to stop water intrusion.
Once I got it open it appears that there is no drain for that compartment. This explains the caulk since any water that gets into the seam between the cockpit sole and the access hatch is going to end up in that well. This seems like a bad design.

So question(s) : Has anyone added a drain to this area? Found a way to allow the seam between the sole and access plate to drain somewhere? Have a recommendation for a caulk that will allow removal of the hatch for adjustments/inspections/replacement without spending a lot of time with a razor knife?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Calif. Ted]

We opened up that hatch on a friends boat because it had leaked into the aft cabin. My memory is poor but I thought we found a plugged drain tube under and aft the radial. I recall a number of owners trying to seal that hatch with caulks with little success. Perhaps something like butyl which has very little adhesive strength but seals well.

 

[DPotter]

Thank you - I will look into the butyl. I could not find a drain tube anywhere.

 

[Alan Gomes]

We opened up that hatch on a friends boat because it had leaked into the aft cabin. My memory is poor but I thought we found a plugged drain tube under and aft the radial. I recall a number of owners trying to seal that hatch with caulks with little success. Perhaps something like butyl which has very little adhesive strength but seals well.

It has been years since I had my 1987 Catalina 30, but I also recall a drain being there.

 

[Project_Mayhem]

My 94 is sealed with silicone by a PO. Seems to be solid but haven't opened it up to check

 

[stevenhagberg]

You can't see the drain tube because it is underneath the radial wheel. it goes a short distance and exits the transom.
No matter how well you seal the top, water will get in...because as you sail or motor through the water, water flows up the rudder stock and into this mini-bilge. Try using a thin, long bottle brush from the transom. But if yours has been "sealed for a long time, I recommend taking the dive into this area. You must be able to access this area easily because that's how you get to the cables to inspect and grease them. also the sheaves that turn the cables aft after coming down the pedastel..

Here you can see the drain. By the way the rudder didn't want to sink when I took the radial wheel apart. But I did pull the bolt half way out and removed half of the radial wheel off and put a sshort bolt through there to keep it from falling out when I removed the second half. Then was sure that it didn't want to go down at all. It has a lot of flotation. Your may not if it has water in the rudder.

It only takes a few tools to do the job.....just like any other boat job.....

 

[DPotter]

Thank you. That is very informative. Did you use butyl for your seal around the hatch?
Will go looking for a long skinny brush.

 

[Project_Mayhem]

You can't see the drain tube because it is underneath the radial wheel. it goes a short distance and exits the transom.
No matter how well you seal the top, water will get in...because as you sail or motor through the water, water flows up the rudder stock and into this mini-bilge. Try using a thin, long bottle brush from the transom. But if yours has been "sealed for a long time, I recommend taking the dive into this area. You must be able to access this area easily because that's how you get to the cables to inspect and grease them. also the sheaves that turn the cables aft after coming down the pedastel..View attachment 233085
Here you can see the drain. By the way the rudder didn't want to sink when I took the radial wheel apart. But I did pull the bolt half way out and removed half of the radial wheel off and put a sshort bolt through there to keep it from falling out when I removed the second half. Then was sure that it didn't want to go down at all. It has a lot of flotation. Your may not if it has water in the rudder.

It only takes a few tools to do the job.....just like any other boat job.....

View attachment 233086View attachment 233085View attachment 233086

You say it exits through the transom. I was under the impression that the stern through hulls were for the electric bilge pump, manual bilge pump and propane locker?

 

[Mikes 87]

My 87 has five through hulls, two for the propane locker, one for the bilge (both manual and eclectic), one for the engine exhaust and one is the drain for the steering quadrant.