Deck drains to bottom of the boat
 

Hello,


I am completing my rebuild and im the prcess of buying the last few items. What is the best scupper if my deck drains through the bottom of the boat. I have a 1971 23ft.

Any advice would help.

thanks

There is no scupper unless you are looking to go a different route. Did you happen to raise the deck in the rebuild?

The only thing that people add to the original threw deck drains are normally Plugs. That is if the deck is too low...

Personally I think deck drains are way over rated in boats of this size range...if I was to do my boat again, I would not even put drains in.

i just put drains into the bilge with 2 big new bilge pumps hated them with the low floor and they sucked on my scout most people keep em plugged so why drill an unnecessary hole in my new transom lol. mine doesn't stay the night in the water and if it did id plug in my battery tender and trust my 2 pumps with floats.

I did not do scupper transom drains in my 20'. It would just be one more spot (two actually) to soak water in the transom core if not sealed well. I have deck drains to the bilge which I just pump out if under way. Only time I need them is when the kids / dog keeps jumping out the boat and when they climb back in and shakes all the water off. I always trailer my boat and keep the main drain plug out while at rest in case if it rains. I would add them if it was in a slip or if I went offshore any though.

I would NEVER consider re-doing a boat without deck drains !

Case in point, "NoBones" tied up to the dock at the Keys house..
12 inches of rain that night.. Woke up next morning, all good no water in bilge or deck boat still floating !

Gravity is your friend..

Battery powered anything is not your friend !

Done correctly deck drains work everytime,

My 1975 Hewes flats boat has drains. just sayin'

Never say never.. :rolleyes:

If I planed on docking a boat or leaving it in the water I would not go with out but in my case the boat is normally short trips on/off the trailer.


Your right about the pumps, they cant be trusted. That's for sure.


You did get me thinking though. If I was to encounter a bad storm while off in the sound or took enough water over the bow before I could get back to the trailer I would probably wish I had them. Im sure the pump couldn't keep up.


Originally when I added the deck drains to the bilge they have barbs. The original plan was to cross drain lines and add scuppers to the transom. I think the deck is above the water line but with enough people in one rear corner it may not be and the lines crossed should prevent that issue. But I got lazy and didn't finish the install. The conditions so far I haven't seen a need yet so I never cut the holes in the transom and finished the installed. Hope to never get in a position where I need them but if I ever do get in a bind with water over the bow im not sure if the 1" lines would keep up or drain fast enough anyhow to get the water out. Im sure while under way they would help but if the engine stalled and the scuppers ended up under the water line they could work in the reverse unless check valves were installed. Maybe my laziness, lack of time or unwillingness to cut a new wood transom is tempting my fait. Like you said "done correctly" they would help more than hurt.

Probably safer to have them than to not. I didnt see my usage of my 20 needing them but in the right case scenario I may. I do agree any boat docked more than 30 mins or used offshore needs them where as I do neither in my 20 but you can never know what mother nature will throw at you either.

No Fishing Blood? No Diving? No Swimming? No Spilled Wine & Beer ? No Heavy Rainstorm? No Dirt or Debris gathered while on the trailer? No Boat Washing? No Kids dropping potato chips & peanut butter sandwiches? No Puke in rough seas?
No Naked Ladies needing to cool off ? No Fresh Water Washdown ?
Dude, If you answered YES to any of the above, you need Self Bailing Deck Drains !
Out the transom with gutters.

The fish blood, water from the kids swimming, spilled beer and such drains out the bilge pump or low transom drain hole well when back on the trailer but you are right about the the dirt and debris. I have had to clean the bilge manually a few times as the debris dose build up in the bilge and dose not always make it out the 1/2" drain hole when on the trailer. That has been my only problem so far. But thinking about having to hand clean up the chunky puke makes me want to add the drains sooner than latter.


Washing the boat can be a bare as the suds dose not make it threw the 1" holes well and builds up in the rear. I do have to go back and hit it with the hose after the deck drains catch up. 1.5 or 2" diameter would work better but that is more of a sizing thing vs where they drain.


You guys do have good valid points. I just need to figure out whether to use 1" flex lines crossed or just run them stright out the back of the boat.


Any of you members up here have problems with stuff clogging the crossed flex lines for scuppers? I don't want to bother with un-clogging flex lines. Since I have moved weight forward I think I can get by with stright fiber glass tubes stright out the back but may go from the flanged 1" plastic drains I have now to 1.5" ones and fully glass them in and get rid of the plastic barbed ones.


It hasn't been too bad dealing with it so far but better drainage may be better....

Deck drains = to hard flex tube = out to Gemlux Flapper scupper drains. I also tied in my transom live well drain out. Just some thoughts for you.

Any questions?

What size lines? Dia?

As I recall, they were 2" Bilge hose to the 1 1/2" glassed transom deck drains. I used a glass exhaust reducer.
The same size hose as the Jabsco Macerator Pump.
The Gemlux Flapper thru Hull Suppers were 2" Barbed. If you heat the hose a bit it goes on & off easier, then hose clamp.

I was thinking about 1 1/2" but I know the 2" drains that were on the 27 drained out fast and I never had anything stop them up either. I was looking at some glass tube on ebay and may try to glass the whole span with one long tube so that I can get away from the hose and connections. Seems like it is only 18-20" to get out the back from the inside liner. I may test this on the 25 first and see how solid tubes work out as that hull will defiantly get drains as it will see some offshore use.

https://mgs4u.com/product-category/fiberglass/tube-rod/

I ordered some 2" ID fiberglass pipe from this website and glassed them in from my cockpit gutters out the transom. very strong, fast shipping, and cheap. Not even my camphor trees can clog them up.

Attached are a couple pics before glassing them in.

Yes, I think your OK with that thought of a solid drain tube.
I did try that route first, but got nervous about the stress on the tube considering I was altering its circumference strength with adding the rod holder drains to it. Also the flex with the bracket & the motor weight on the transome. The angle also was not right from the gutter config. I wanted the Gemlux Flapper Scuppers which would not work with the solid tube. I hate water in the bilge. You can see what I'm talking about in the picture.

The boat flexing would be my major concern. I would think if I glassed them in with epoxy it would have enough flex not to crack out hopefully. I do need to check the line of sight and angle of the transom to make sure it is doable though. I don't have tabs on the 20 so it shouldn't have much blocking it.

I did almost the exact same thing on my 79 Sceptre.
Worked great.
Been three years and no signs of flexing or cracking.
I used West System G-Flex epoxy which is a little more flexible than straight up West System and I used 1/8 inch wall 1.5" prefab structural fiberglass tubing from mcmaster carr.

https://www.mcmaster.com/8535k72

https://www.mcmaster.com/mvA/Content...=ImageNotFound

5 foot chunk, 26 bucks. Hard as nails.

1.5" ID works fine. 2" ID I guess would be better, but for my use and with my slightly raised deck, the 1.5 does the job.

Covered them with these:
https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/18...g?v=1547699502
T-H Marine rectangular scupper.