Typhoon bilge opening specs

[bamabratsche]

Does anyone who happens to have a Typhoon handy know what the original dimensions were for the bilge access opening in the cabin sole? Specifically, how big is the opening itself, and far is it from the sides and ends of the sole?

A previous owner enlarged it on mine by several orders of magnitude but neglected to seal the edges, which resulted in a lot of core rot and cracked fiberglass when people stepped on it. I am (hopefully) setting things right, although I may leave it a little larger than it was originally since it is nice to be able to see all the way to the back without too much effort.

[Markst95]

I don't have the dimensions but here's a pic to show the general size and placement. the hole size is not much bigger than my fist, around 6".

[bamabratsche]

I meant to reply to this earlier, but if anyone is interested here's what I ended up doing:

Here's the bilge opening as it was when I got the boat. Hard to see here, but the core around the edges was completely disintegrated and the upper skin was cracked since it could no longer support the weight of people stepping on it.


Here's the upper skin and rotten core removed, and a bevel ground around the edge in preparation for the new top skin:


Super-glued in temporary supports for the new lower skin:


New lower skin (two layers of 1708 fabric):


New balsa core and upper skin:


I made the new access hole about 6x10, which I believe is about as wide as the original but 4 inches longer or so, and allows enough access that I can see all the way to the back of the bilge (if I sort of hang upside-down from the companionway). This seems to fully support the weight of a person standing on it without flexing, but I may add some stringers underneath along the long sides just to be safe. I also dug out the core all around the edges and sealed it with thickened epoxy, and then did some fairing. The opening is obviously not exactly square, but I was trying to button everything up before it got too cold for epoxy work, and it will be covered almost all the time anyway.


A few coats of high-build primer and a new bilge cover, and by then it was too cold to do anything else. I would like to eventually paint the interior, but that will have to wait at least until spring. I have a feeling I may end up just throwing a carpet or something over it for now and going sailing, and save painting for after next season.


It is really, really nice to be able to stand in the companionway and mess with lines and sails, and also makes just getting into the cabin much less of a contortionist act.

[Oswego John]

Hey bamabratsche,

Nice job.
O J

[seajunkie]

Wow, that is really nice. Thanks for sharing the pics!