Vaseline for the balers

B&Q bucket for the bad days £1
will fit under your rear deck

I used to tape my bailers up with leccy tape. It works but releases them fine on the days you need them. Duck tape is a bit too sticky

Leccy tape is also cheaper and rolls can be bought in 10 packs from screwfix etc.
 
Ah. I don't think I ever used sticky-back plastic. All through my viewing years, I heard the presenters say the phrase without having any personal experience of it.
 
It had a handle? That, I didn't know. I do know that the bailer on the other side is likewise lifted only by a bit of cord.
 
Dan,
They come in various sizes, also in two flavours, flange on the outside and flange on the inside.
If Croak's are the right sort, a quick look on eBay will suggest a price of £10 to £20 or more if they're in good nick.

Croak,
If they are the same size as those on my dinghy, and Dan doesn't want them, I'd be interested.
Mine have been bent and fettled back to a reasonable level of waterproof, but have had a hard life.
A pair to restore before my planned winter paint job might be a good idea!
What sort is your Merlin?
 
To fit hole 59x118mm. they are plastic and have Super Shute 90 IYE written on them, My merlin is firewood a long time ago. It came to a sad demise doing a dry capsize off it's trailer due to a strange gust of wind at Windermere. Could it have been a white spirit?
 
Thanks for the option, but I'm not sure my own bailers are quite bad enough to justify replacement yet. I think I'll tinker for a while and try duct tape if necessary.
 
dancrane said:
It had a handle? That, I didn't know. I do know that the bailer on the other side is likewise lifted only by a bit of cord.
Click to expand...

The handle clamps them closed against a gasket to stop leaks. Like this:-

2528.jpg
 
Ah! It could be that which is causing my dribbles, since neither of my bailers has a clamp. Odd, it doesn't look like something which would have dropped off very easily.
 
Last edited:
dancrane said:
Ah! It could be that which is causing my dribbles, since neither of my bailers has a clamp. Odd, it doesn't look like something which would have dropped off very easily.
Click to expand...

Your handles may have been a different design, perhaps formed of sheet metal which engaged with the ends of the rod, the rusty bits in your picture. That could have come off and got lost more easily.

Pete
 
dancrane said:
A bailer, too. I often wonder why a 5-litre version isn't available of the same design - how many floors/decks are curved like the average bucket?
Click to expand...

Rectangular domestic buckets are avaiable (must be, since I have one). Good for use with a self-squeezing sponge mop. Not sure about bailing, though...

Mike.
 
Thank you Nigel, your input definitely is useful and welcome, if only to remind me not to shop at Marine Megastore. £87!!! :eek:

It occurs to me that the slickness of my boat's undersides won't be noticeably impaired - it may even be improved - if I duct-tape over the bailer-recesses...

...so that'll be my light-airs strategy. As was pointed out, the boat won't need hauling out if the bailer is needed, I can force the bailer down and stick a shackle key down the chute to make a hole.

I wasn't very serious about bigger hand-bailers. The excellent standard design is quite capacious. I just wondered if double the size might be a manlier bit of kit for a flooded boat.

But with self-bailers, transom-flaps, truncated milk cartons, a big black bucket and only a very slow leak, I doubt I'll find a use for bigger. Or, as a mark of my eccentricity, I could wear a ten-gallon hat?
 
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