I have a '72 Catalina 22 that I've had for just over a year. One of my projects last year before splashing was to replace the old gate valve for the thru-hull. I know Catalina Direct says to replace the bronze pipe going through the hull, but mine seemed stuck solidly and didn't want to budge. Time was tight and I really wanted to get in the water, so I replaced the valve and went with it. I also installed an automatic bilge-pump and routed it to a new thru-hull I installed in the transom above the waterline.
I spent the entire summer on a mooring ball and always had a little water in the bilge but could never find the leak. This year I resolved to find it. I was thinking it might have been the hold-down bolt for the keel, but now that I've climbed under the trailer and am looking up at the thru-hull for the scupper drains I can see that there is what looks like raw fiber glass between the end of the bronze nipple and the outside of the hull. Almost as if it's 1/8" short. And I know I should really replace it anyway, or just do away with it completely.
So. my question is do I really need it? It's not that I can't do the work, I've seen the videos on Youtube and built a couple of small wooden boats. I'm just not sure I really want to. I don't really want to drain the cockpit into the bilge, though my bilge-pump does work well. And it's a '72 so the cockpit slopes forward and would never really empty if I put a scupper on the stern. The output of the bilge-pump is too high to let gravity do the work. So if I eliminate it, I need to find a solution to get the water out of the cockpit, especially if it's sitting on a mooring ball.
Does anyone have any ideas I'm not thinking of?
Thanks
I spent the entire summer on a mooring ball and always had a little water in the bilge but could never find the leak. This year I resolved to find it. I was thinking it might have been the hold-down bolt for the keel, but now that I've climbed under the trailer and am looking up at the thru-hull for the scupper drains I can see that there is what looks like raw fiber glass between the end of the bronze nipple and the outside of the hull. Almost as if it's 1/8" short. And I know I should really replace it anyway, or just do away with it completely.
So. my question is do I really need it? It's not that I can't do the work, I've seen the videos on Youtube and built a couple of small wooden boats. I'm just not sure I really want to. I don't really want to drain the cockpit into the bilge, though my bilge-pump does work well. And it's a '72 so the cockpit slopes forward and would never really empty if I put a scupper on the stern. The output of the bilge-pump is too high to let gravity do the work. So if I eliminate it, I need to find a solution to get the water out of the cockpit, especially if it's sitting on a mooring ball.
Does anyone have any ideas I'm not thinking of?
Thanks
