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plugged scupper

Buster

Junior Member
Im a noobie to sailing and have recently aquired an Ericson 23 as my first boat. After a heavy rain I went to take the boat out only to be greeted with a cockpit full of water. The water also overflowed into the cabin! I was able to thread a piece of cable through the scupper grate so I am assuming the problem is with the through hole valve.

I guess my questions are:
1.) Is the cockpit scupper/valve supposed to be open all the time, so water can freely move in and out? or is it something to be opened only when drainage is neccessary?

2.) Since I can endlessly turn the valve in either direction, assume its broken. Is this something that can be replaced with the boat in the water (the through hole is below the water line)?

Thanx for any help...:egrin:
 

Mark F

Contributing Partner
Blogs Author
Hi Buster,

Welcome to the web site. I see by your profile that you are in Santa Cruz, I have a 1968 Ericson 23 Mk1 in Santa Cruz. Did you buy Sparky?

The cockpit drain thru hulls should be open all the time. Sounds like you have gate valves instead of seacocks (seacocks have a lever handle instead of a knob). I understand that gate valves tend to seize up, if it seized in the closed position you wouldn't be able to open it. You might try to fish a wire through to see if there is an obstruction you can clear. Just don't poke a hole in the hose! The drains are really small on the E23, mine clog on occasion and I have to blow into it with a hose to clear it. Did you check both valves?

Where in the harbor is your boat?
 

Buster

Junior Member
Hey Mark,
No I did not buy Sparky. We actually purchased the boat in SF and will keep it there until spring. We are on the Santa Cruz waiting list, but we'll probably end up in Moss Landing for a bit. Yes I have a gate valve. for the life of me I couldnt remember the proper term. You mentioned somthing about "both" valves. I only found one that drains both the cockpit and the anchor storage from the bow (theres a hose that runs from somewhere up front, Im assuming its from the anchore line box). The valve is located beneath the seat on the starboard side. Where would another be?

Where is your boat located? Maybe we'll run into eachother someday...

Thanx for the response
 

Mark F

Contributing Partner
Blogs Author
On my Mk1 there are two thru hulls for the cockpit drains one under the starboard settee and the other under the port settee. I guess the Mk2 is different...Bob, Sven?

I think there is little or no wait for 20' slips and you can put a 22' boat in one. You might ask about getting a 20' slip for your "less than 23' boat". I had an outer tie at J dock that might be available without a wait. The down side of that slip is that with a 3'6" draft you can't get in or out at low tide. Is your mast tabernacled so you can use the upper harbor?

Are you going to sail down from SF? I'm in the upper harbor at W dock, slip 7.
 

Randy Rutledge

Sustaining Member
Not a wire "danger"

Use a bathroom plunger not a wire to clear scupper hoses. With the plunger you won't poke a hole on the hose and it works in seconds instead of hunting for a wire and fishing it through. We keep one at A dock at RSC just for that purpose.
 

NateHanson

Sustaining Member
Yes, but it isn't easy, and may not be advisable.

You need to plug the through-hull from outside the hull. Then you need to try to unthread the old gate valve from the thru-hull stem inside the boat, WITHOUT loosening the thru-hull's attachment to the hull!

If you can do that, then you can thread on a new seacock (with thread dope) and again try not to disturb the seal between the hull and the thru-hull, and don't turn the thru-hull at all or it will leak.

Finally, dive down again and try to get the wooden plug out of your thru-hull. By this time the plug will have swelled up, and will really be securely wedged in the bottom of your boat, so it could be a real fight to get it out. It's wise not to put it in any tighter than absolutely necessary in the first place.

Good luck, Nate
 

Randy Rutledge

Sustaining Member
where angels fear to tread

Your Gate valve should have a large screw on cap that the handle shaft passes through. I believe if you remove this cap the gate can be removed.. I wouldn’t want to chance removing the whole assembly with the boat in the water. If anything goes wrong, the through hull spins, breaks etc. you are in for an emergency haul. If you remove just the gate you can use two wrenches on the inside of the boat one to hold the valve and the other to remove the cap and may be able to free it and use it until the next haul you still will need to plug the through hull to keep water out while doing the work. Any through hull work is not something I would want to do with the boat in the water.

If you do decide to pull the gate valve off the through hull you need to get or make a tool to hold the through hull (the tool fits in the TH on the outside end and catches two tabs that are in the hole). After you have the gate valve loose you can then plug the though hull. A bathroom plunger pressed and secured over the through hull will stop water from pouring in and will have little chance of causing the TH to leak. Driving a plug in and working it out might loosen the seal on the TH.

Have help and a good bilge pump and if possible do this at a marina where you could have the boat hauled if the worst happens.

One thing through hulls are straight threads and most valves have tapered threads so maybe the valve will come off easily since there are usually only a couple of turns of thread in the valve

Good Luck.
 

Bob in Va

Member III
drain

Many E23s had a small sink, and if yours does, then that is where the other hose originates. The boat's waterline is not much lower than the cockpit floor, and cockpit drainage on these boats is one of the few weaknesses on their design. Also, there is probably a one way valve in the line between the cockpit drain and the T-fitting above the gate valve. Many owners have added a through the transom scupper just above the waterline, and they leave it open when they are away from the boat. The stock drain is small and easily stopped up with leaves and other airborne debris. Keeping a small plunger on board is an excellent suggestion. You can also take a length of hose and blow back through the thru-hull - that will usually dislodge debris that has packed itself into the tight spaces of the valve. It took me about half an hour to get it all out of mine. When it is freed of crud, the cockpit drains pretty well if the boat is moving, and it will drain down to the channel when sitting, so that no water will enter the cabin. I have some photos of transoms that have been modified - my boat is TigerEye in the owners' registry section if you want to contact me.
 

nimereht

New Member
FWIW, The owner's registry has been throwing a database error for at least a week - can't access that part of the site at present.

I'm a new owner of a 23-2 getting hip to this cockpit drainage issue as well, and I'm really interested in the option of adding (a) scupper(s) through the transom to supplement that little drain to the thru-hull. Wondering about what others have used for this, and if something like this would be appropriate... Bob, think you can share some of those photos you mentioned?

(maybe even two of them... one on either side of that wimpy drain) but with the lower rim of their opening about level with the cockpit floor?

As for the small plunger suggestion - isn't it difficult to get a seal on the drain down in that little slot at the rear of the cockpit? I guess I need to find a really small plunger? (Or are we exclusively placing that plunger on the hull?)

When I haul out in February I want to redo the drain plumbing somewhat, since I plan to refinish the "galley" and would like the sink functional) at the very least replace that gate valve with a proper seacock. (Mine has a red metal handle on it like a garden faucet, which is somehow really not confidence-inspiring... wonder if that was stock.)

I also ordered some self-latching latches for the cockpit locker / lazarette lids, partly because I'd like to remove the stock hasps to avoid folks (mainly me) whacking the backside of their legs on 'em, but mostly for some assurance that those big gaping holes will stay shut in the event of a broach or similar unplanned activity. (My overall opinion of the E23-2 so far is that it's much like a J/24 with more ballast in the keel, slightly more luxurious daysailer accommodations for the family and friends, but some of the same era of engineering for better and worse. Not planing to race her yet, but it's not out of the question.

It's a healthy paranoia I like to maintain...
 
Last edited:

alcodiesel

Bill McLean
Two of the scuppers on the 27 I just bought were plugged. Turned out to be at the very top. I removed the deck grates and there were the crud plugs- easily removed w/ fingers! I, too was planning plunger and wire fixes. Sometimes I think way too much.
 
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