Holman & Pye - drainage route to bilge

[Durcott]

Hi everyone,

I'm hoping this will be a generic feature of many Holman & Pye designs, not requiring any specific details of the Northney 34 as such...

I'm assuming there shoud be a direct route for all water to collect in the bilge, by finding its way through drain holes at the bottom of each bulkhead.

On my boat, the bulkhead forming the rear wall of the fore cabin seems to have such a hole, but it is blocked off - and I can't access the other side of it.

There is an 'alternate route' from this space, but it will require many inches of water before it reaches the level of the saloon floor drains.

So - before I get out my drills - is my assumption correct that there should be such a direct route?

Thanks

Jeff Adams

 

[EASLOOP]

Hi,
I have a wooden East Anglian sloop and all of the wooden floors have 'limber' holes allowing any and all water to run freely to the deepest part of the bilge (the 'sump' I believe it is called). Even where the forepeak begins to rise above the water line there are closed areas that will trap water. On my boat these 'voids' are filled with a black solid tar type material so the water cannot collect.
I would certainly make sure there are adequate limber holes as trapped water, especially fresh, can cause horrible problems if left.

I have put additional joists across the lower hull on which are mounted the bulkheads thus keeping them well above the area that water might get trapped.

Hope this helps.

 

[pugwash]

My Sovereign 31 (Holman) has the same problem. Water is very slow to drain down to the sump and relies on the shaking of the boat in a seaway to make it happen. I can't access the limber holes because there is a 50-gallon stainless steel water tank on top of them, but I intend to remove the tank this winter to see what's going on underneath. Horrible moment in mid-channel a few weeks ago when I was listening to the England-Portugal game while standing at the bottom of the companion and suddenly realised I was standing in an inch of water. I did a swift check around but it seems the water was being shaken into the sump from the forward partitions by the movement of the boat. Once I had pumped out, all was well. Maybe the limber holes simply aren't big enough. I'd be interested to know what you find and what you do about it.

 

[Twister_Ken]

My Twister (a Tylers moulding) has limber holes port, centre and starboard at every transverse frame below the floor. Not big - I'd guess 3/8th, but it seems to do the job on either tack (not that much water gets below up forward anyway). The exception is the main frame at the aft end of the forecabin, where the frame is only bonded on the two sides, leaving a substantial gap underneath for drainage.

 

[Durcott]

Hi,

I got a call from the current boatyard owner Can't remember his name, which is terrible of me after he took the trouble to ring.

He reckoned on leaving well alone actually, so there you have it.

So - to recap, the bulkhead does seem to have drain holes, blocked from the 'blind' side. But the recommendation was not to redrill the holes into whatever might be the cause of the blockage.

However, will continue to research.

Jeff