Through Hull Problems

[gatorbait]

I have a 1977 20' Seafari, and the self bailing fittings at the back port and starboard side of the deck are leaking into the bilge. I've heard that these can cause big problems over time and sometimes need to be replaced. I'm having a tough time finding hardware other than through hull fittings designed for water pickup or for bilge output. If anyone can point me in the right direction or give me some repair tips for this project I would really appreciate it, thanks.

[Bryan A.]

I took an ordinary brass drain tube, the kind you buy at the boat supply store about 3" long or so. Then I got a plastic thru-hull discharge like the kind you would use above the water line for a bilge pump. I made sure the the plastic fitting was long enough to touch the brass tube in the drain hole on my 20 SF from the bottom. Also it was a bit large than the inner diameter of the brass tube. I then put it on a lathe and turned the threads off and made it fit snugly in the brass tube. Took 5200, glued the brass tube in from the top, glued the plastic one in from the bottom, they meet in the middle and provide a somewhat flexible connection between the inner liner and outer hull to avoid cracking the connection if it flexes. This repair was done about 9 years ago and like many of my projects was meant to be a quick fix until I could "get" to it. The best option I believe is to run them out the transom but my solution has worked great so far and involves no glass work.

[gatorbait]

Thanks for the info, but on my SeaFari the self bailing holes are not on the transom. They're located at the back corner of the deck on each side, are vertical and run out the bottom of my boat. I want to install a live well in the port side hatch that currently holds my second battery and use the existing self bailing hole as a water intake for my live well. There is plenty of room for both batteries on the starboard side, so why not? I'm thinking about putting a brass strainer w/ 1"x 3" pipe connected to a 90' brass elbow in port side hole and run it to my port side back hatch. The sidewall for this hatch is only about two inches back from the existing hole and is right up against the freeboard so the brass elbow will not be in the way at all. Then I could recondition the starboard side fitting and still use it to bail any water on my deck. Any opinions?

[Miles Offshore]

Gator- mine are the same also and i pretty much did what brian said also. if you start leaking bad between the inner and outer hull then you have real problems of the sinking kind. I drilled out/ removed the old tubes, then oversize drilled out the holes again. filled the larger holes back in with west epoxy and then redrilled the original size holes back into the west. then i went and bought 4 of those 3" long brass tubes at west marine and 5200'd them back into place. i had to cut approx. 3/4" off of one side so they would mate up correctly. also the rolled edge on the exterior should be higher forward and flush or filed down aft for the scuppers to drain correctly when underway. hope this helps- craig

[gatorbait]

What did you use to drill out the old fittings? I think I'll go that route and replace them with the new brass fittings. I'm still considering using the port side as an intake for a live will though.

[Miles Offshore]

sorry i dont remember the exact size but after you oversize /drill out the holes i used cardboard taped to the bottom to hold the west in while it cured . what i didnt do what stick a piece of small tube (1/8") to line up the top and bottom of the hole for the final redrill before reinstalling the new tubes. make sense??)

[Bryan A.]

My drain holes on the 20 SF are exactly like yours, they do not run out the transom. Miles suggestion with the epoxy is great and makes my solution that much stronger.

I see two problems. Putting two batteries on one side may get you off of and even keel, causing the boat to list to starboard. Also I did not see any mention of a shut off for the live well intake. I would be sure to provide some way of stopping water flow if need be.