Oday 34 ice box drains to bilge

[slaume]

I always have a little water in the bilge but it is never from the ice box. That stuff can get nasty.

I made some plugs by cutting some closed cell foam with a hole saw. I stuff one in the ice box drain to plug the hole. This helps to keep the cold air draining out of the box. I always bring frozen jugs from home at the beginning of a trip. These will last for up to five days. I can drink the water as they start to thaw. If I do need to buy more ice, it goes straight into a dry bag at the point of purchase. The ice water never gets away. I I never have anything but a bit of condensation to wipe out and the box and bilge both stay fresh, Steve.

 

[YVRguy]

Rather than going to all the work of re-rigging the drain somehow, why don't you just run a bucket of seawater through the bilge every other day? Your pump will engage and flush the water - what's left in the bottom will be pretty much seawater and won't smell. This has the added benefit of built-in regular inspection of the bilge and pump. My float switch just quit and caused me quite a scare recently.

 

[CATBOAT WILLY]

When we got our 36, the ice box drained to the sink drain via a 'Whale' foot operated pump. A 1/2 inch hose ran from the bottom of the ice box to the sink (about six feet) through a back flow preventer to what I'll call a 'drip loop' or anti -siphon loop in the hose - then on to meet the sink drain. The 'drip loop' was necessary because the bottom of the ice box was below the water line and the top of the drip loop was placed above the water line.
All of this worked very well as far as the water went but we found that there was a constant unpleasant smell from the water that was continually trapped in the line.
The quick answer was to drain the ice box directly to the bilge and the odor was eliminated. You also might wish to get a stopper for the bottom of the ice box and plug it as quite a bit of cold air can escape from that small hole.