a few of CD25 Bilge questions

[D Rush]

Before I bought my CD25 I had never seen a CD 25 bilge so bear with me.
One of my boat's POs had cut the cabin sole to gain a few inches of headroom, so I don't know what a stock bilge of CD25 looks like.
[img]http://picasaweb.google.com/jazd595/Cap ... 6826500594[/img]

Can someone post or direct me to a CD25 bilge picture?

Here's my situation and another question.

My 1978 CD25 is still on boat stands, I was washing down my deck cockpit and lazzerette. While washing the drainage channels for the Cockpit lockers water got into the cockpit locker under the cockpit.
The water pooled up against divider / wall between the locker and the cabin. I sopped up the water and I noticed what looked like a drain hole where the water pooled. The drain hole, about 3/8", seemed sealed with crud and maybe sealant.

My questions:
Is there a bilge below my custom cabin floor / sole?
How deep is a CD25 bilge, measured down from cabin sole?
Is there suppose to be a drain hole in the locker? less than a half inch seems pretty small.

My boat's inspection at purchase said that the bilge was dry.

[jbenagh]

I don't have pictures but can try to explain what mine looks like. Judging from what my bilge looks like (1975 CD25) I think the sole there is the top of the keel. I don't think there is any empty space below. It's about 6-8 inches from the sole to the top of the lead in mine (well the fiberglass atop the lead).

I have drain holes in the cockpit lockers, about the same size as yours. They do fill up with crud pretty quickly but when cleaned will drain eventually. If a lot of water got in there it would quickly get past the bulkhead into the cabin and drain there.

Jeff

[D Rush]

Thanks for the reply and the info. You confirmed my thinking that my boat's PO's customization is block my access to the bilge. I'll investigate more during my next visit to my boat.

[Carl Thunberg]

Denis,

I took a look at your photo. It sure seems they went through a lot of work to gain, well . . . not much. I'd imagine you've twisted your ankle in that little well. The bottom of the well is the glassed over ballast. On Jeff's boat there's a lift ring from when they lowered the ballast into the hull during manufacture. Evidently they ground the lift ring off during this work, or maybe it's just beyond the trim. It's hard to tell. I e-mailed you some photos showing the rest of the bilge beyond the trim you see.

Basically, there isn't much of a bilge in the CD25. There's a little more space between the cabin sole and the bottom of the bilge toward the bow, but it's never more than a foot. The up-side is, you never lose your tools down the bilge

[D Rush]

Thanks for the info Carl. Yes the PO gained very little and created unfriendly footing. I have already fabricated a "temporary" Cabin Sole using plywood and laminate panel. The "temporary" Cabin Sole is a good match to the interior "paneling". A better quality Cabin Sole with bilge access hatch is in the works. Of course "temporary" has a broad definition on my projects.
This morning on the way to work, I stopped by the boat & removed one of the end caps from the PO's customizations. I found the bilge to be just as You and Jeff said. Not alot of space or depth. there is a lot of "stuff" in the bilge, dirt, muck, the odd screw, wire bits, dropped screwdriver, etc. I'll have to examine the bilge more closely on my next visit. No monsters or creatures thankfully
I'll add cleaning up the bilge and making it more accessible to my list of projects. I have no bilge pump, only an inexpensive "Thirsty-Mate" brand hand pump.
I have heard that some owners use this space as a storage area using containers but mostly on larger boats. I'll have to meditate on the Bilge situation for a while.

[tartansailor]

The CD 25 bilge is a great place to store gallon jugs of bottled water.
IMHO

Dick

[Dave Brandt]

Here is a link to some photos of my CD-25 bilge.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/9447350@N0 ... 596173271/

Dave

[D Rush]

Thanks Dave, I forgot about your photo sets of the restoration of Prairie as a resource. A Great resource.

[Jerry Hammernik]

I know this is a bit off topic, but I just rewatched (for about the 4th time) the slide show of Prairie's restoration. I'm wondering how it is working out. Anything that didn't turn out like you wanted or things you are looking to redo? I'm still amazed by the project. What a great job!

[Dave Brandt]

Hi Jerry,

I really could not be more pleased. I thought about your question and there is not anything that really did not work out, a few things needed a bit of tweaking. The only thing that I have a few regrets about is that I kind of wish I would have started with a boat that had a stand up cabin, but even that is not that big of a deal, we have really enjoyed the boat.

Yes, I do have a few more projects in the works ( it is a boat after all ) but right now I am kind of itching to get the boat in the water ( winter here in MN has had a hard time letting go ).

There is one thing that has been driving me crazy, a year ago I ordered a dodger for the boat from a well known eastern canvas company that said they had a CD-25 pattern. I received the first dodger last fall and after a frustrating day of trying to install it, I finally concluded it did not fit, not really even close. The company did some checking and found they had another pattern for a CD-25 and sent that one out last winter. I got around to installing it a couple of weeks ago and it did not fit either. The company has not been very good about working with me to find a solution to the problem.

Dave

[Roy J.]

Dave,

I appreciate your discretion, but what company have you been working with on the dodger? I am in the market to have one made, and would like to know which one(s) to avoid.

Prairie really is remarkable. I too lament the lack of standing headroom, but the combination of simplicity and seaworthiness of the CD-25 can't be beat!

Thanks.

Roy