My early 70's Catalina 22 is on a trailer in my driveway. When it rains, she takes on enough water to make you think she's going to sink! Even the inside of the cabin and the hull fill with water. The cockpit drains are clogged, and I have tried sucking them out with a vacuum, blowing them out, and even pouring in a little bleach, which only helped a little. But that couldn't be the only problem! How do I clean out the drains, and what else could be leaking to allow in that much water?
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drains
Good Day Bette
I have a 1970 Catalina 22 #81. I too have had problems with drainage of the cockpit. What I found was that the two drains go into a tee fitting under the keel winch area, this Tee get pluged with debris. What you need to do is remove the hose clamps and clean out or replace the Tee and the two drain hoses that come down from the cockpit drains to the Tee. The older Catalina 22 cockpit drains were not very good at draining the cockpit. The metal screens in the cockpit should be removed and a short wire poked into them to unclog the drain funnel area. Not very deep just a few inches. When completed, run some water into the cockpit and see if water come out of the boat just behind the keel when retracted. I hope this helps you. AL
Good Day Bette
I have a 1970 Catalina 22 #81. I too have had problems with drainage of the cockpit. What I found was that the two drains go into a tee fitting under the keel winch area, this Tee get pluged with debris. What you need to do is remove the hose clamps and clean out or replace the Tee and the two drain hoses that come down from the cockpit drains to the Tee. The older Catalina 22 cockpit drains were not very good at draining the cockpit. The metal screens in the cockpit should be removed and a short wire poked into them to unclog the drain funnel area. Not very deep just a few inches. When completed, run some water into the cockpit and see if water come out of the boat just behind the keel when retracted. I hope this helps you. AL
you have a leak in the cockpit drain.....
between the through hull connection and the cockpit . Crawl under the floor of the cockpit and check the hose connecting the two.
between the through hull connection and the cockpit . Crawl under the floor of the cockpit and check the hose connecting the two.
You could also
Add drains in the transom, there are several methods to do these from plastic to brass. I have found some wasps like to build in the drain from below when sitting on the trailer.
Add drains in the transom, there are several methods to do these from plastic to brass. I have found some wasps like to build in the drain from below when sitting on the trailer.
Add drains in the transom generally won't work
because the cockpit deck is tilted forward to the drains at the bridge-deck. Some have added the aft drains through the transom, but that will only help with a huge volume of water in the cockpit - although not a bad "backup" if the standard drains clog again. The C25s, for instance, have the cockpit deck angled aft to the transom "drain holes".
because the cockpit deck is tilted forward to the drains at the bridge-deck. Some have added the aft drains through the transom, but that will only help with a huge volume of water in the cockpit - although not a bad "backup" if the standard drains clog again. The C25s, for instance, have the cockpit deck angled aft to the transom "drain holes".
Plunger
Buy a small plunger and it will open them right up. We do that a few times during the season and it will be fine. Hope this helps
Dale
Buy a small plunger and it will open them right up. We do that a few times during the season and it will be fine. Hope this helps
Dale
For Bette
My suggestion for Bette is to look into installing the rear scupper drains. It is true that the cockpit floor slopes forwards but the water would be far less likely to build up to a point where it's running into the cabin if those Scupper holes are back there as extra insurance. CD advertised that they drain 6X faster than the originals and would be less likely to clog with the larger holes. So, even if the forward drains do clog, they wouldn't fill the cabin with water nearly so fast. So, I would also clean the forward drains and look into tarping that cockpit so that debris and rainwater doesn't get to such a point. By allowing this much weight inside the boat, you are really stressing the hull and the trailer.
My suggestion for Bette is to look into installing the rear scupper drains. It is true that the cockpit floor slopes forwards but the water would be far less likely to build up to a point where it's running into the cabin if those Scupper holes are back there as extra insurance. CD advertised that they drain 6X faster than the originals and would be less likely to clog with the larger holes. So, even if the forward drains do clog, they wouldn't fill the cabin with water nearly so fast. So, I would also clean the forward drains and look into tarping that cockpit so that debris and rainwater doesn't get to such a point. By allowing this much weight inside the boat, you are really stressing the hull and the trailer.
valve
We have a 1976 22 and the scupper hoses go into a valve, located in the area behind the keel winch that has seized up. Is this valve something that was added by a previous owner or is it standard equipment? Can it be done away with?
We have a 1976 22 and the scupper hoses go into a valve, located in the area behind the keel winch that has seized up. Is this valve something that was added by a previous owner or is it standard equipment? Can it be done away with?
Hi, I can't think why they would have put a valve at the T-fitting but I think that it's standard equipment. IT may be that with that valve, you can then close it and force water from a hose through the U part to clear the lines if they become clogged. I can also say that the valve is about at the waterline as my turning ball in the volcano is about where the waterline is on my new style.
This link from Chip Ford's pages may help you some.
http://www.chipford.com/chip_ahoy_7.htm
see the very bottom image.
In the next link from Chip's site (Scroll down a bit) there is a section where he replaces all of the hoses and the valve and he removes the sink drain fitting.
http://www.chipford.com/second_battery.htm#hose
Re: Plunger
Continuing on with what Dale wrote, I also use a plunger to clean the drain hoses. I have found that if you hold a wet towel over one of the drains and plunge the other one, it will pull out the debris from beneath the "T". Then, you should move the towel to the other drain and do the same thing. Eventually the drains will clear, and water will pour out from beneath the boat.
I would also like to mention that I once had a leak from one of the "volcanos" under the cockpit floor. The volcanos are the funnels that the water collects in before it goes into the 2 hoses. The volcanos lead to copper pipes that the hoses connect onto. The hole that was sawn in the liner, wore through the copper pipe due to the up and down movement of the cockpit floor, and the glass fibers in the liner. (I know that this is hard to believe, but this is what I found after a ton of investigation). Anyhow, I repaired the copper pipe and the volcano, enlarged the hole in the liner, and replaced the hoses, and the through hull fitting, and now the inside of my bilge is completely dry.
I'm glad that you have gotten so much advice from everyone on this issue. Leaks can be frustrating, but with time you can solve the problem and make your bilge dry again.
I hope this helps, Aldo
Continuing on with what Dale wrote, I also use a plunger to clean the drain hoses. I have found that if you hold a wet towel over one of the drains and plunge the other one, it will pull out the debris from beneath the "T". Then, you should move the towel to the other drain and do the same thing. Eventually the drains will clear, and water will pour out from beneath the boat.
I would also like to mention that I once had a leak from one of the "volcanos" under the cockpit floor. The volcanos are the funnels that the water collects in before it goes into the 2 hoses. The volcanos lead to copper pipes that the hoses connect onto. The hole that was sawn in the liner, wore through the copper pipe due to the up and down movement of the cockpit floor, and the glass fibers in the liner. (I know that this is hard to believe, but this is what I found after a ton of investigation). Anyhow, I repaired the copper pipe and the volcano, enlarged the hole in the liner, and replaced the hoses, and the through hull fitting, and now the inside of my bilge is completely dry.
I'm glad that you have gotten so much advice from everyone on this issue. Leaks can be frustrating, but with time you can solve the problem and make your bilge dry again.
I hope this helps, Aldo
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