Irv, That's what I understand also. I went over the boat the other day and looked in the drains from underneath, and felt in there with my fingers. It looked and felt more like aluminum than copper. The problem is, as I see it, is that the drains exit at a slant to the hull, and they are not "common" thru-hulls. A common thru-hull is a hole, to which bedded flanges and pipes are fitted to, inside and outside, with an integral seacock on the inside for positive water ingress control. The pipes are only available as standard parts perpendicular to the hull. The cheaper ones are plastic, the more sturdy ones are bronze. Both are maintainable. The early-80's M-17's has non-standard thru-hulls that can't be easily replaced. The other thing is that the exit hole, in connection with the slanted pipe, is non-circular. So the M-17 scupper thru-hull is flush with the hull, decreasing drag, but is non-maintainable, and can't easily be changed out to a standard plastic or bronze thru-hull fitting. The other problem is that, at least in my 1982 M-17 #357, if the thru-hulls are perpendicular to the hull, with that pipe and seacock then the water won't flow downhill from the wet-locker to the exit, but will first have to go up and over a hump (meaning it won't drain). I was trolling the internet, looking for stuff, and came upon a writeup describing how insurers won't insure a yacht unless all below the water-line thru-hulls have proper working seacocks. And they frown on one-way flapper valves in the system, because they can get stuck. Given all this, IMHO, if you're have to go through the trouble of fixing the scuppers, I suggest this. All the later Montgomery's, from about 1983 or so onwards, including Bob's current production, route the drains from the rear of the wet locker, to exit holes above the water line (boot stripe) on the transom. Go that one extra step, if you have to do glass work, and update the boat to that configuration. As soon as I get a couple extra hundred in spending authority from the Admiral, I'm planning on doing that. Alternatively, for less glass work, I have seen thru-hulls with a 90-degree bend in the pipe. That might work also, fitting them in the current BTWL scuppers, but it has to be fitted to be sure it will work. In the meantime, I make sure to flush out the drains with fresh water after every sail (I keep in on the trailer, not in a slip), to minimize corrosion from standing salt water. Regards, John Fleming M-17: "Star Cross'd" Irv Kooris wrote:
It is true the replacing common thru hull fittings is relatively easy. As I understand it the thru hull on Montgomery 17 are a glassed in metal (aluminum) tubes that hoses are attached to with hose clamps that allow the water to drain from the boat. Replacing these can't be that simple. Irv Samaaron M17
-----Original Message----- From: montgomery_boats-admin@mailman.xmission.com [mailto:montgomery_boats-admin@mailman.xmission.com]On Behalf Of Morris, Giles Sent: Thursday, September 19, 2002 9:38 AM To: 'montgomery_boats@mailman.xmission.com' Subject: RE: M_Boats: M17 Keel/Centerboard
Unless there's something weird about them, replacing through-hull fittings is pretty easy (assuming the boat's out of the water!). My favorite book that covers this sort of stuff is This Old Boat by Don Casey. Giles Morris Arlington VA Vancouver 25 "Dolphin" Montgomery 15 "Umiaq" Sundry small craft
-----Original Message----- From: wayne yeargain [mailto:wayne@ev1.net] Sent: Wednesday, September 18, 2002 9:54 PM To: montgomery_boats@mailman.xmission.com Subject: Re: M_Boats: M17 Keel/Centerboard
Hi Mark Could you explain the details of replacing the thru hulls? I suspect mine are marginal, & don't know if this is a do it yourself job or not.
Wayne ----- Original Message ----- From: "Roberta Dvorscak" <edarts93@earthlink.net> To: <montgomery_boats@mailman.xmission.com> Sent: Tuesday, September 17, 2002 11:44 PM Subject: RE: M_Boats: M17 Keel/Centerboard
Tod, Grace used to collect some water in the bilge also. I wriggled under the cockpit while she was in the water and inspected the thru-hulls at the point at which the hoses attached. A little pressure with my fingers quickly revealed that the thru hulls were corroded to the point of failure (I was thankful that Grace has a bilge pump even though the amount of water coming in was not that great). Another symptom that she exhibited was the collection of rainwater in the bilge after a heavy rain. After replacing the thru-hulls she has remained bone-dry inside. Mark Dvorscak M17 #400 Grace
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