How do I stop self bailers from popping up?

Kelpie

Kelpie

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Was out for a wee spin in the Graduate today- only the third time we've got her wet since we bought her. Lovely fun little boat, but being plywood and having been garaged for the best part of a decade, she takes on water rapidly. Hence we have the bailers open almost all the time.

Once we have any sort of speed up, the bailers want to close up, and they naturally tend to lie at a half open position where they act as scoops. Not very helpful! For today I just pushed them down with my foot whenever possible but that's not terribly practical.

I was wondering about putting some vaseline or similar onto them to 'stick' them in position- but I also think that would attract grit.
Any suggestions (other than sailing slower)?
 
If they don't stay open, sounds like they have worn seals and probably leak, assuming they are the Anderson/Elvstrom type?
 
Not cheap to replace. I thoroughly cleaned mine on the Solo and found they would close right up much better. Sealed them with a smear of Vaseline.
 
Sorry, this will be no help at all...

Just wanted say:

1) Yes, Grads really are great fun little boats, very forgiving yet with very pleasing performance

2) The self bailers on my old Supergrad stay open without any problems.

Good luck!
 
lw395 said:
If they don't stay open, sounds like they have worn seals and probably leak, assuming they are the Anderson/Elvstrom type?
Click to expand...

Yes they are the S/S ones, I don't know if they leak because there is a torrent of water getting in along the centreboard casing. The boat is SWMBO's so her call if she wants to spend any time on it- my jobs list for the other two boats is long enough already!

They are very free moving (nice- I'm used to stiff bailers, on a friend's Wayfarer we used to hammer them open with a rubber mallet!).
 
It's friction from the seals that keep them open, so if they are popping up, as you say, then the seals are worn. May well not be so worn, though, as to leak when they are closed.
 
Just had a thought- I'll try a wee bit of electrical tape to pack out the side of the bailer.
I'm hoping a few more days on the water will help seal up the centreboard- and then I might be able to tell whether the bailers leak too! But at the moment anything they are letting in is a drop in the ocean...
 
I've found that ply boats don't "take-up" as you are hoping like wooden (proper) boats do. If you set about repairing it be prepared for removing the centre-board case and replacing quite a bit of wood.
 
Some ply boats, the case is not ever so rigidly mounted, on mastic. When that goes, it can leak a lot without meaning there is any rot.
Later ones, the case tended to be more integrated into the hull.
You can get new seals for the bailers, but they are not cheap, it's sometimes easier to get secondhand bailers.
A mate of mine sails with the bailers taped up in light weather, the tape will break off if the bailers are needed.
 
I was going by what the previous owner told us- he said the boat always leaked on the first sail of the season, but that it would seal up over time. I did have my doubts tbh as I know that ply does not behave like timber does. However the centreboard casing has fillets running along it, and of course there is structural wood along the keel, so perhaps there is some truth to it.
I don't suspect any rot. The seller said that he had to periodically reseal the casing with mastic, so maybe we will have to eventually do that.

Taping up the bailers would be a very bad idea! If we couldn't get the water back out, I doubt we would stay afloat for more than an hour...
 
You can carefully tease the bailer a bit wider so it doesn't close...but it's a bit of a bodge. Have you checked the rubber grommets on the centreboard bolt? Often overlooked...
 
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