H-25 Cockpit Drains - No, they don't work!

[Janel]

I have a 1977 H-25. I am aware that the cockpit drain design isn't exactly the best but I'm hoping that someone out there has found a quick fix to this or a way to get them to drain regularly without having to stand on the back of the boat and bounce every time I board in the rainy season! It is obvious that they were designed higher than the cockpit floor outside the cabin and the cockpit floor is always full of water and algae in Winter. Thanks!Ms. Toad's Wild Ride

 

[michael wainright]

back at you

hey I enjoyed your response to my article.You have to be creative if you want to redesign your boat.My 25 has two holes in the back with hoses connecting to the cockpit.They are just above the water line and flush with the floor of the cockpit.If bouncing drains your water out,try moving some weight and try to rebalance the way the boat lies in the water--good sailing

 

[Wes Zimmerman]

I hear ya

I have a 79 H25 and at one time had the same problem.A while ago in this very forum it was discussed at length. The best suggestion brought up was to remove old plastic pipe and put in 2" PVC piping at a 20-30 degree angle toward stern. Drill hole through the fuel tank shelf and run hose from end of PVC to the drain just above water line. It seemed to be a good idea and it worked for several H25 owners. If I can help you some more let me know.Wes Zimmerman"FINALLY" 79 H25sailshigh@home.com

 

[jcherubini]

Don't use PVC

Do not make cockpit drains out of PVC. I don't care how convenient you think it seems.PVC and fibreglass do not like each other. They are chemically incompatitble and eventually WILL separate. This is not something you want to happen somewhere you don't inspect every day and in an applicationt that could sink the boat.Most responsible boat builders use the PVC as a mould and lay up a fibreglass pipe using Fabmat and the works. This is the ONLY thing that is guaranteed to connect the fibreglass cockpit pan to the hull and not give problems.I do believe the H-25 drains are probably too small in diameter. However the finding was that given a 2-3-person crew the boat is then sufficiently weighted in the stern to allow them to drain underway. I realise this is hardly the answer everyone is looking for but the only truly safe improvement is to lay up larger 'pipes' out of fibreglass. An owner experienced in fibreglass could fabricate his own, not expensively nor with great difficulty.The cheater way to solve this is to use radiator or exhaust hose, smearing 5200 or even silicone all over the connections and using TWO all-SS clamps on each end, which has been done by less-responsible builders (typically on speedboats or trailerable sailboats). But this MUST be accompanied by frequent and scrupulous inspection and maintenance, and if one of the hoses ever drops off it will be catastrophic.JC

 

[John Allison]

Radiator Hose Fix

The radiator hose fix, described by Mr. Cherubini, has been applied to my H25. This was accomplished shortly after I purchased "Whisper" in Nov 95 due to the fact that water was trapped in the cockpit drain, froze over the winter and broke the drain pipe. This was the repair accomplished by the dealer. One thing I did to make the hose more accessible was to cut a 12X18 inch hole in the tray of the aft lazaret. Ease of accessibility also provides for ease of inspection(actually, I added the hole to facilitate replacement of the motor mount).  The drain could be bigger: however, my biggest complaint with the centerline drain is when the boat is heeled over, any water in the cockpit is trapped along the side walls and does not clear until the "Whisper" levels out. It would seem that corner drains would be more advantageous than the single centerline drain; and those corner drains should probably be placed at the fore end of the cockpit. These coupled with the existing centerline drain should be more than adequate to handle most cockpit flooding situations.