Or teak grating in the cockpit sole? ----- Original Message ----- From: "Cal Spooner" <cspooner@mn.rr.com> To: <montgomery_boats@mailman.xmission.com> Sent: Thursday, April 25, 2002 6:32 AM Subject: cockpit drain backwash Steve, There is really no solution other than to get one of those mats that bartenders use (and boat shops sell) that are about 1" thick and made of alternating squares (checkerboard pattern) of rubber, trim it and throw it on the floor of the cockpit. The design of the drain makes water come up sometimes when tacking into the wind, and other conditions, in rough water... the waves force the water up; your "hydraulic pressure" analogy is correct. There is no simple solution to this... but the mat will keep your feet dry, and allow the water to drain back out. At 9:01 PM -0500 4/24/02, Steve McClellan \(at Home\) wrote:
It just so happens that I have been turning this issue (cockpit drain backwash) over and over in my head for the past couple of days.
The reason is, I recently removed the teak pennant guide and have ground away a good deal of the fiberglass around the drain hole, as a small part of a larger project that began a few weeks ago with a centerboard that wouldn't drop, and is going to end with a complete refurbishment of my keel stub, centerboard trunk, centerboard, and cockpit drain.
And the big question that has been getting me lately is: Why isn't there SOME permanent solution to the drain backwash problem on the M15s? There must be an answer. What is it?
With the teak piece gone, the drain opening is actually quite large, about 1 inch by 2 inches I'd say. BUT consider: it is at the top of an inverted triangular slot, the centerboard slot, which means that as water pressure causes water to move up the slot, it is progresively accelerated by the ever-narrowing passage, until it is forced with some considerably multiplied hydraulic pressure up the through the drain hole.
It seems like, with the centerboard removed, one should be able to install some kind of a "valve" or flap that would allow water to move downward with ease (necessary) but not UPward at all. Whatever kind of spring loading kept the valve flap up, it would have to be something weak enough that even small amounts of water from above would overcome it.
The other possibility might be some kind of a float that would jam itself up into the hole from below when water was moving upward.
Come on people, put on your thinking caps! I'm willing to be the guinea pig for whatever good idea we can come up with. (I've got the think all taken apart and up on stands anyway) It needs to be something both simple and reliable.
----- Original Message ----- From: "Mark Pavuk" <mcpavuk@worldnet.att.net> To: <montgomery_boats@mailman.xmission.com> Sent: Wednesday, April 24, 2002 6:42 Subject: M_Boats: cockpit drain
Is it normal to have water entering the cockpit from the drain? We sailed today and had a wonderful time - the only problem was a bit of water getting splashed up and getting our feet and the main sheet wet. I assumed self-bailing was a one way street somehow. Are we missing something? Cherri, M-15 # 322 -- Cal Spooner M15 #402 spoon@visi.com cspooner@mn.rr.com 763.574.1482
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