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Installing a garboard drain plug in the bilge

lrclough

Junior Member
Our new to us 1986 Ericson 32 had a fair amount of rain water coming down the mast this past season.

I am concerned about what will happen over the winter as a result of water in the bilge when we head south from Maine this winter even though we will use a winter cover inherited from the prior owner. The badly discolored floorboards suggest that this has been a problem in the past.

I would like to drill a garboard drain hole into the port corner of the bilge in the second compartment aft of the mast where the regular bilge pump is located, which from the diagrams suggest that a 45 degree angle on the hole would exit through the lead keel. I would tap in threads for a 1/2" silicon bronze bolt with a hex head from Hamilton Marine, countersunk a bit into the keel.

One issue is that the mast water seems to drain into the non-TAFG portions of the bilge. When I pour the pink antifreeze into the mast drain hole (there is a teak dam around the mast which directs water into a drain hole just forward of the mast) it does not show up in the bilge compartments built into the TAFG, and hence is would not seem to be likely to drain out.

Your thoughts or advice?
 

e38 owner

Member III
I have a 38 not a 32. It has drain plugs for tafg
I store the boat in the cold. This is what I do
Cover the boat my mast boot is solid and My cover wraps around the mast above the boom. I use stretch film to form a good seal
Thus with any luck the only water that gets in is thru the holes in the Mast. Some people I know cover those I do not
Some years I keep the boat in the water in those years I keep the boat plugged in and it is less of a problem
Pull the floor boards so any water travels to the bilge
Keep the bow up a bit thus water in the cockpit and bilge travels aft
When possible to plug in and run heat tape in the bilge or small safe heater and any water will evaporate away
When not I add a few plastic bottles in each bilge well filled with antifreeze Gatorade bottle
If water in bilge freezes hopefull it stops any damage. Every time I add antifreeze to bilge it just gets diluted if I get water then still freezes
 
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Christian Williams

E381 - Los Angeles
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
>>>>it does not show up in the bilge compartments built into the TAFG, and hence is would not seem to be likely to drain out.

You probably have TAFG drains with stoppers. You could leave those open.

Is there a problem with bilge water freezing (aside from plumbing issues)? As I recall , in the East my bilge was hard as a rock all winter. Once, over the floorboards on a 25-footer. I recall starting with an ice
pick and then just giving up until spring.

But it's been a long time....
 

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  • 1-TAGF drain 2.JPG
    1-TAGF drain 2.JPG
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Tom Metzger

Sustaining Partner
I have been leaving something open in the bilge to avoid flooding the cabin for the last 30 years or so. On my previous boat I had a hose pull off of a cockpit scupper and ice and water covered the cabin sole. Fortunately, I discovered it before it all melted and avoided problems with the sole. In that boat I removed the knot meter transducer so the bilge could drain if I had another failure.

On my E-34 I have the problem of water coming down the mast which could be a problem in addition to the risk of a failure. I pull the hose off of a seacock so that the bilge can drain.

I don't like the idea of drilling from the bilge into the keel. Rather than that I would install a garboard drain plug into a near vertical bilge wall. They are readily available from any chandlery.
 

lrclough

Junior Member
More variations on the Garboard theme

Investigating the bilge and garboard drain situation further now that the boat is hauled, I determined that the shower sump drains directly into the inaccessible part of the bilge outside of the TAFG bilge compartments where the shower and bilge pumps are located.

Looks like the hose that ran from the shower sump to the first bilge compartment with the shower pump was pulled off, but that I can access the hose from the settee locker just aft of the head, perhaps with some judicious cutting with a Multi-master. There is a small access point already.

Looking at the flow of water, the limber hole between the second and third TAFG compartments also seem to be connected to these inaccessible bilge areas.

Is this normal? Given the irregularities created by the TAFG, this seems to allow all sorts of crud to accumulate in the hidden and inaccessible portions of the bilge below the immovable floorboards.
 

lrclough

Junior Member
More variations on the Garboard theme

Investigating the bilge and garboard drain situation further now that the boat is hauled, I determined that the shower sump drains directly into the inaccessible part of the bilge outside of the TAFG bilge compartments where the shower and bilge pumps are located.

Looks like the hose that ran from the shower sump to the first bilge compartment with the shower pump was pulled off, but that I can access the hose from the settee locker just aft of the head, perhaps with some judicious cutting with a Multi-master. There is a small access point already.

Looking at the flow of water, the limber hole between the second and third TAFG compartments also seem to be connected to these inaccessible bilge areas.

Is this normal? Given the irregularities created by the TAFG, this seems to allow all sorts of crud to accumulate in the hidden and inaccessible portions of the bilge below the immovable floorboards.
 

Christian Williams

E381 - Los Angeles
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
I don't know if this applies, but here is the '85 32-3 shower sump, with dedicated bilge pump and three-way switch in the head.

sump.jpg

The 381 shower leads via a pvc tube to a midships sump. But any flaw in the drain system, or hidden leak from the head sink plumbing, can mean water introduced into hidden TAFG sections with no drains at all.

Sometimes for peace of mind--and to head off rot--floorboards have to be yanked. On some models that's not such an easy job.

1-cabin sole demo c.JPG
 
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lrclough

Junior Member
Pictures of Drain installed

I finally proceeded to drill a pilot hole for my Garboard drain into the fiberglass hull on my 1986 E32 using an long electrical bit and gaining access from the locker next to the mast. I then drilled the larger hole from the outside of the hull and tapped it for a 1/2' bronze hex head bolt per the pictures below.

I did not want to blindly drill from the outside without knowing where the drain would end up, so i did the pilot hole first. It was much easier to drill the final hole and tap from outside the hull

The drain is close to the bottom of the stub where the keel attaches, so it works well and has already taken care of some of the water trapped beneath the TAFG. The result will be less to worry about when my boat is in Maine over the winter and I am down south, unable to check on the boat.


Drilling Garboard Drain.JPG

Garboard Drain.JPG
 

lrclough

Junior Member
Post Launch Update on Garboard Drain in the Bilge

My Ericson 32 is back in the water, with the threaded garboard drain hole in the bilge now capped off with a bronze hex head bolt and nut from Hamilton Marine. I also added an O ring where the bolt enters the hull since the head was not quite even with the surface of the hull. I did not want to torque it down too much given that the threads are tapped into the fiberglass.

There was noticably less smell in the bilge, which stayed dry, and also a lot less mold and mildew on the boat. Overall, a success.
 

bknight365

Member I
thank you for this, it is excellent information. I'm in Vermont and found my '85 32-3 with water over the floor boards this spring due to a failed cockpit drain hose. I've often considered a garboard hole. Would you do it the same if you had to do it over again? (There are threaded bronze garboard fittings to avoid stripping fiberglass threads)

Ben
 

lrclough

Junior Member
Garboard Drain thinking

thank you for this, it is excellent information. I'm in Vermont and found my '85 32-3 with water over the floor boards this spring due to a failed cockpit drain hose. I've often considered a garboard hole. Would you do it the same if you had to do it over again? (There are threaded bronze garboard fittings to avoid stripping fiberglass threads)

Ben

Yes, I would definitely do it again. I drilled and tapped the hole for a 1/2” bronze bolt since I anticipated that the hole would not be perpendicular to the exterior of the hull. Hard to make a thin plate water tight if it is askew to the hull.

Also I found that the hull is fairly thick so the tap created a lot of threads for sealing with Teflon tape on the bolt, and would not be likely to strip. In addition I added a nut on the inside. I think it should be bulletproof.

The only nerve racking part it drilling the initial pilot hole, but I used a narrow electric drill bit. That hole could be easily filled in with epoxy if I had miscalculated.

This spring there was much less smell, plus no worries over the winter.
 
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