Seafari forward bilge drainage

[seafari25]

Hey folks,

With the recent bilge posts, something that I've been wondering for years has come to mind.

When I wash out the cabin and step down, the water in the forward bilge seems to take a few hours or days, depending on how much I put in there, to retreat to the aft bilge. Is this some sort of safety feature or do I have a mouse nest in there or something? It's been like this for as long as I can remember. I guess I've never taken the time to stick my nose down in there to take a good look.

Thanks in advance for any input
Brandon

[Capt Chuck]

I guess I've never taken the time to stick my nose down in there to take a good look.

I don't think you'll be able to smell the mouse nest

[seafari25]

Thanks for the input Capt. Chuck. I guess if I get my nose down there, my eyes would be in the vicinity

I figured maybe the boat may have been designed like that so as not to flood the engine box too quickly in the case of a rogue wave or something Makes sense to me but I just wondered what the veteran seafari owners thought. I'd love to hear from Fr. Frank or Denny.

[McGillicuddy]

Brandon,
The boat goes in the water not the reverse, eh? I do recall Fr Frank suggesting that I put a bilge pump in the bilge under the cabin. That he had experienced water accumulating in the front of the boat.

Probably the lowest point at rest. here's that thread:
http://www.classicseacraft.com/forum...rev=#Post65014

As far as is there a mouse nest blocking flow? I don't know, but you can definitely smell out a rat's nest...

[seafari25]

Typical newbie eh Gillie?

Thanks for the link. You're always on point!

I remember trying to look up some of Freds progress shots but I guess I was too busy drooling over his pics to read what Fr. Frank wrote. I've been all over the seafari posts but I don't know how I missed that one. It's pretty clear to me now after reading it.

Our 25's forward bilge drains eventually at rest so I assume that she's not bow heavy. It just takes forever.

It seems to me that, after reading Fr. Franks story of his adventures without the plug, compared to my grandfathers adventures without the plug, I may indeed have a mouse nest down there. Better get my nose in there

btw Gillie I haven't forgotten about the boarding ladder project you've given me. I'll definitely have something for you in the spring.

[Bushwacker]

Hey Brandon, the Seafari 25 is a totally different animal relative to the 20. The stepdown on the 20 inner liner rests on top of the 2x4 keelson, so there's a couple of inches vertical clearance between hull and deck. It's basically wide open; I've hosed out the open compartment under the front hatch under the bunks and any water sprayed in there runs back to the transom immediately if boat is on trailer with bow raised up. Some later models ('74 & later?) had a fancy gel coated box under front hatch so you couldn't really see into bilge in there. Is your boat open to the bilge up under that forward hatch? Maybe there's some sort of bulkhead up there, but I would think they would want to leave it open for ventilation so as not to trap any gas fumes up there. Maybe you need to run a roto-rooter thru the bilge to clean out any rats nests or misc debris! Denny

[McGillicuddy]

Might even be a coil of old anchor rope or life preservers or an old bag... Have a look if the bucket lifts out.

[seafari25]

Hi Denny

I figured the 20 and 25 might be a little bit different but I thought there may have been some similarities also.

As seen in this pic,
[image][/image]
My grandfather installed a hatch in the floor. I think originally to install the base unit for an aircraft compass which used to be installed. The custom fiberglass mounting bracket is still there just forward of the hatch. Only one of the three berth hatches(starboard) is enclosed. The other two run into the bilge. I actually use that part of the bilge as "dry" storage(spare prop, sea anchor etc) and just remove the few items when I scrub her out. I just wish I didn't have to wait two days to put the stuff back in

In any case, roto rooter it is!

Thanks
Brandon

[bigeasy1]

I don't know anything about the Seafari's but when I was trying to wash out the entire bilge area in my Tsunami project,I had the same problem.

All the water that was up foward in the cuddy,was taking forever to drain to the rear.
I had to cut out the bottom of the in deck compartment anyway to replace rotted core,and when I did,I found about a 4" thick layer of sludge,that ran from the bow to the fuel tank platform.
The sludge had accumulated around a forward bulkhead,severely restricting any drainage of water.You can see the bulkhead under the middle epoxied in support in the picture.

In addition to that,the space under the fuel tank had all kinds of debris under it,such as two Coke cans from the seventies,when they had pull tabs,and you couldn't crush them.
The in deck baitwell behind the fuel tank was simply bedded into the hull with what I think was thickened resin.It was gobbed on so thick,that hardly any water could get by it.

I scraped out all that sludge("ugh it smelled like sewage)and cleaned out under the fuel tank,and removed the giant globs of putty under the baitwell.
It drains immediately now.

I was really surprised at some of the sloppy workmanship in these hidden areas,lots of the glass was resin starved,while other areas had big puddles of resin.
The coke cans were definitely there from the original build.Maybe there was some disgruntled employees.

Maybe there is a bulkhead up front in yours,that is blocked with debris.

I decided to leave the bottom of the long in deck compartment,removable so that I can clean out the inevitable debris that builds up.Here's a picture after I cleaned it out.

[seafari25]

Hey John,

Thanks for your input. That brings into play something that never crossed my mind. A manufacturers defect. More food for thought.

The blockage is in the fuel tank area between the step down bulkhead and the forward engine box bulkhead. I'll definitely be getting to the bottom of this in the spring. Looks like I'm going to have to run the snake through there.

Brandon