venture 17 cockpit drain

Jul 14, 2019
57
macgregor venture 17 meridian,ms
venture 17 cockpit where keel cable goes is pushed up a little so all the water won't drain out,any good way to fix,maybe build the floor up around the drain with epoxy
 
Last edited:
Sep 25, 2008
294
1970 Venture by Macgregor 21 Clayton, NC
Check the hull interior around the area to the keel cable. My brother had a 17 that someone had cranked the strap around the trailer so much that it partially crushed the bottom, causing the cock pit floor to raise up at the drain pipe. fixing the hull may be your first criteria
 
Jul 14, 2019
57
macgregor venture 17 meridian,ms
inside of boat is fine,bottom of boat is fine,sorry it took so long to reply, been very busy
 
Jan 19, 2010
12,362
Hobie 16 & Rhodes 22 Skeeter Charleston
yes... build it up... or if you have a very strong and steady hand, you could try taking a grinder and knock down the lip of the pipe coming up out of the floor.
 
Aug 22, 2011
1,113
MacGregor Venture V224 Cheeseland
yes... build it up... or if you have a very strong and steady hand, you could try taking a grinder and knock down the lip of the pipe coming up out of the floor.

Not meaning to minimize your response, but I own a Venture and had this exact same problem.
More than once.

The question I would be asking is why is the scupper pipe now the highest point in that floor.
Its very well possible that the floor has sunk around the scupper pipe and why is that happening?

I have found that those 2 screws you see next to the scupper can allow water into the floor core making it mushy or having a rotted core that may extend quite a ways back into the cockpit.
Or perhaps that line at the front edge is a crack doing the same, or both. And maybe the cockpit/companionway support board below might be missing. Or all of the above.
I had to replace the entire floor because I didn't like how mushy it was along with the scupper problem.

That spot is a super critical support point since it rests right on top of the rear of the keel trunk. It supports the weight of the entire upper works of the boat in the rear center. Just putting resin in there probably won't stop the problem for long.

At a minimum I would glass in a board with a scupper hole in it UNDER the cockpit, on top of the keel trunk to stiffen the floor back up and restore height if you aren't interested in actually fixing the floor properly (which you can get away with if you don't sail your boat hard like I do).

I reworked the entire area because the factory build of this critical point was so poorly done.
The scupper now goes through glass only and I will not be using those 2 screws to secure the floor.
I will use a different method to keep the cockpit from floating around under stress when I get back to it this spring.
The top of the keel trunk is now flat matching the bottom of the floor and flat rubber gasket.


Some pics for reference.

Pic1: Is your support board in there?
Pic 1: poor factory fit keel trunk/gasket/pipe/floor
Pic3: What it looks like under your scupper
Pic4: Work in progress...






 

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Jul 14, 2019
57
macgregor venture 17 meridian,ms
floor is solid think it just needs more support,the hull looks good,underneath the floor inside the boat looks good,always wondered if there was supposed to be support on the companionway entrance,have been told it didn't,maybe i can jack it up and put a support board in it,the boat was missing alot of parts when i got it
 
Jan 19, 2010
12,362
Hobie 16 & Rhodes 22 Skeeter Charleston
I have owned two V21 and a V22 sailboat and all of them had a support under the companionway bridgedeck. I'd suggest cutting out a small bulkhead out of 1/2" ply, paint it with enamel and then jack up the bridgedeck a 1/4" and slide in the bulkhead. Tab it in to secure it.
 
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Aug 22, 2011
1,113
MacGregor Venture V224 Cheeseland
I have owned two V21 and a V22 sailboat and all of them had a support under the companionway bridgedeck. I'd suggest cutting out a small bulkhead out of 1/2" ply, paint it with enamel and then jack up the bridgedeck a 1/4" and slide in the bulkhead. Tab it in to secure it.
My front support board came factory through bolted to the front wall of the cockpit
with 4 bolts and wooden spacers to account for the angle.
The bottom was just wood screwed to what I call the "main beam" .
I put in galvanized lags instead.

There should also be a support board under the rear of the cockpit
that runs between the stringers I think.

It might take more than a 1/4" jackup...
 
Jul 14, 2019
57
macgregor venture 17 meridian,ms
thanks for all the information,going to do a lot more work on the inside,i see a support under the floor in the stern but it's not connected to anything
 
Feb 18, 2022
440
Catalina 36 Port Orchard
While my boat isn’t a M17, I do have a MacGregor and had issues with my bulkhead at the opening to the companionway. My problem was the way the hatch slid over the door, I had to lift it up to get it to go over, and it was not easy. I looked into this a bit further and noticed my bulkhead was bowed quite a bit. Causing my cockpit floor to sag and for the door/hatch area to get wonky too. I used my old bulkhead as a template to make a new one out of ply, I had fun with this as the bulkhead bowing made creating a pattern interesting. When the old bulkhead was removed there was no sag from the cockpit, but a bottle jack and block of wood allowed me to lift the companionway up about an inch or two. This fixed my hatch/door issue and even my lift out worked easier. I drilled my new bulkhead to match the raise I gave the hull and now I’m good to go.

Rotten original bulkhead
F1B7A630-3D36-46CE-A92C-F8B152F7214B.jpeg
A0200894-140C-473B-8F61-B80FC6452B78.jpeg

A0200894-140C-473B-8F61-B80FC6452B78.jpeg


Nice new bulkhead
494B47A0-0CDE-4A59-BD48-93396866A62B.jpeg
 
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