My prior message about how to tell if the keel glass was ok was getting a little long. John H and sloopjohnl, you were right. The hole I had drilled about 11" up and in from my Typhoon keel bottom and back was into the bilge area. Consequently, the several glasses of water that drained out was bilge water. That raises another question. Since John H correctly pointed out that the Typhoon bilge behind the inspection hole slopes down about 5" and then runs flat about another 8" before ending, it will always accumulate hidden bilge water. How do you normally get that water out? It's too far to reach. A long straw? Does the sitting water there do any damage? I would have thought a drain plug where I drilled my hole would be good to leave open during the winter when the boat is hauled out, but John H says he had one (his was a very early model, so it may have been discontinued later) but he removed it? Was there a reason for that?
Thanks guys.
rosenwalds@hotmail.com
sloopjohnl & jhalpern - You're right!!! But how get bil
Moderator: Jim Walsh
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sloopjohnl
Re: sloopjohnl & jhalpern - You're right!!! But how ...
Roger,
i can't speak for all typhoons for i have only looked in the bilge of mine which is a '76 and an '84. my bilge does not have that step down or a lower portion - my bilge has a flat floor that runs to the stern and stops. if you cannot see a dip in your bilge, it may not be there. prior to this year i carried a small electric 12v dc water pump, a short discharge hose and a suction hose with a combination check valve and strainer at the end. i connected the pump to a battery with alligator clips and pumped the bilge out whenever it collected more water than i was comfortable with. i always pumped it dry and sponged it out when i hauled out in the fall. this was satisfactory to me until last season when i did not have the lower hatchboard all the way down when i left one weekend and that week we had a rainstorm that dumped three inches of rain in a short period of time. if you are ever on the typhoon and get that much water you will find the cockpit will not drain fast enough, it will fill with water and if your hatchboards are not tight, water will get into the bilge. along with all the deck fittings that can leak into the bilge, i have found that the teak trim ring around the base of the tiller at the rudder shaft tube will leak a lot of water into the bilge when the cockpit gets water in it if it is not tightly caulked.
anyway, when i got to the boat the following weekend the bilge was completely filled and an inch water was on the cabin floor. this made me nervous enough to install an automatic bilge pump this past spring. this automatic setup leaves a lot of water in the bilge which i will have to pump out with the 12v water pump because of the limited access to the bilge, but at least i know i shouldn't encounter the amount of water i did last year. there was an older ty at my marina a few years back and the guy had some kind of a bilge pump setup where he hung a discharge hose overboard when he would leave the boat. one time the hose ended up in the water and it siphoned water back into the boat and sunk it. i did not use his setup as an example!! i had installed lights about five years ago so a battery and electric panel have been at my disposal. if you want a how to on this i would be glad to supply the details.
the first couple of years i owned my ty i used a hand pump but that was cumbersome, slow and never seemed to get enough water out to satisfy me. if you have a battery on board that's half the battle. a small pump and hoses will fit nicely in one of the storage areas under the quarter berths.
good luck with whatever you do.
sloopjohnl@aol.com
i can't speak for all typhoons for i have only looked in the bilge of mine which is a '76 and an '84. my bilge does not have that step down or a lower portion - my bilge has a flat floor that runs to the stern and stops. if you cannot see a dip in your bilge, it may not be there. prior to this year i carried a small electric 12v dc water pump, a short discharge hose and a suction hose with a combination check valve and strainer at the end. i connected the pump to a battery with alligator clips and pumped the bilge out whenever it collected more water than i was comfortable with. i always pumped it dry and sponged it out when i hauled out in the fall. this was satisfactory to me until last season when i did not have the lower hatchboard all the way down when i left one weekend and that week we had a rainstorm that dumped three inches of rain in a short period of time. if you are ever on the typhoon and get that much water you will find the cockpit will not drain fast enough, it will fill with water and if your hatchboards are not tight, water will get into the bilge. along with all the deck fittings that can leak into the bilge, i have found that the teak trim ring around the base of the tiller at the rudder shaft tube will leak a lot of water into the bilge when the cockpit gets water in it if it is not tightly caulked.
anyway, when i got to the boat the following weekend the bilge was completely filled and an inch water was on the cabin floor. this made me nervous enough to install an automatic bilge pump this past spring. this automatic setup leaves a lot of water in the bilge which i will have to pump out with the 12v water pump because of the limited access to the bilge, but at least i know i shouldn't encounter the amount of water i did last year. there was an older ty at my marina a few years back and the guy had some kind of a bilge pump setup where he hung a discharge hose overboard when he would leave the boat. one time the hose ended up in the water and it siphoned water back into the boat and sunk it. i did not use his setup as an example!! i had installed lights about five years ago so a battery and electric panel have been at my disposal. if you want a how to on this i would be glad to supply the details.
the first couple of years i owned my ty i used a hand pump but that was cumbersome, slow and never seemed to get enough water out to satisfy me. if you have a battery on board that's half the battle. a small pump and hoses will fit nicely in one of the storage areas under the quarter berths.
good luck with whatever you do.
Roger R wrote: My prior message about how to tell if the keel glass was ok was getting a little long. John H and sloopjohnl, you were right. The hole I had drilled about 11" up and in from my Typhoon keel bottom and back was into the bilge area. Consequently, the several glasses of water that drained out was bilge water. That raises another question. Since John H correctly pointed out that the Typhoon bilge behind the inspection hole slopes down about 5" and then runs flat about another 8" before ending, it will always accumulate hidden bilge water. How do you normally get that water out? It's too far to reach. A long straw? Does the sitting water there do any damage? I would have thought a drain plug where I drilled my hole would be good to leave open during the winter when the boat is hauled out, but John H says he had one (his was a very early model, so it may have been discontinued later) but he removed it? Was there a reason for that?
Thanks guys.
sloopjohnl@aol.com