Winter storage : water in the bilge from the shrink wrap

[jen1722terry]

Happy Holiday, Sailors!

Jenn and I have had our 31 shrink wrapped up here in coastal Nova Scotia. Even with 6 vents installed in the shrink wrap, we're getting quite a bit of condensation to the point where we have to leave the bilge pump on to occassionaly pump it out.

We stored our boat in New Hampshire (Portsmouth area) last winter, also with shrink wrapping, and didn't seem to get this much condensation. We do note that last year we left all hatches and portlights closed, while this year they are open under the shrink wrap. Also, coastal Nova Scotia is much warmer and wetter in the winter that coastal New Hampshire.

It's not a big problem leaving the bilge pump on, for we have a big, 160-watt solar panel and two big, AGM house batteries. But we are worried about water freezing in the bilge as the condensation dilutes the antifreeze we've dumped in the bottom of the bilge. This ice could damage the bilge pump switch and/or the pump itself. Then, the water would rise and set off the high bilge alarm and maybe burn that out by spring. Continuing rising water could wreck havoc in the boat.

Any ideas what we can do in this situation? Should we have a mechanic install a drain plug? Should be have the yard add antifreeze every few weeks?

We have to return to our New Hamphshire home this week, so we can't check the boat ouselves over the winter.

Looking forward to thoughts and ideas and, again, a very Happy Holidays to all of you.

Jenn and Terry

[Jim Walsh]

Exceptional environment. In this case I'd take the painless path and ask the yard to pour a gallon of antifreeze in the bilge at regular intervals. Simple, cheap, effective. I'm sure there are lots of more complicated solutions. I would, under no circumstances, put a hole in my bilge unnecessarily.

[Dick Kobayashi]

Paying for 20 minutes of labor a month for three or four months sounds...pretty attractive

[Maine_Buzzard]

The concern about holes in the bilge is understandable- I guess it comes down to what necessary is in your emotional dictionary.

My experience is that having the drain lessens my concern greatly over the winter, (right now it's stuffed with bronze wool to keep the mice out) and until the lobsters figure out how to use a socket wrench, there is no way the plug is coming out while in the water.

A drain plug should be no greater worry than a seacock. I put it in each year, not the yard, so if it's crossthreaded, it would be my fault and caught then.

It helps in the fall too. I take the lines off my water system, drain the tanks to the bilge and out the plug, and best of all, when I scrub the bilge, all that gunk and rinse water goes right out the drain. An oil lamp wick wedged at the bottom and cascading out the drain will tease the last drop out of the bilge. (Upgraded from a sock...)

The awesome thing about the water is that we each get to try what we want to, and the ocean decides far more directly than any opinion.

Older thread:
http://www.capedory.org/board/viewtopic ... ug#p179232

[JWSutcliffe]

In 6 years of CD31 ownership I have never achieved a dry bilge, winter or summer. 2 gallons of antifreeze every winter, bilge pump turned off, with both shrink wrap and a home built frame with tarp covering, never a freeze problem, but never dry. Perhaps it will be better this winter with the Shipshape cover which is being delivered this Friday. We shall see.

[Paul D.]

I have water in my bilge every spring. Condensation and some cockpit locker leaking I reckon. I pump the bilge, pour in a gallon of anti freeze during winterization along with whatever drains into the bilge from other winterization duties. Lastly after shrink-wrapping and everything is complete, I pump the bilge a one more time. The same issue occurs with the holding tank, which on Femme is in the keel. After pumping the head, I pump the tank out and clean pretty thoroughly, run a gallon of -50 anti freeze in and pump through. Done.

It takes 6 gallons of anti freeze for the entire boat each fall. About $20 and it goes a long way. In the deepest, darkest, coldest Lake Superior winters, we're talking -40F, we've had no freeze problems in a dozen winters so far.

[Ben Coombs]

Antifreeze in the bilge is our solution too. Why CD put the sump area in bilges seems so silly. Completely inaccessible. I can inspect ours by twisting my head like an owl and bending one arm like gumby while holding a flashlight.

I do keep hearing about garboard drains being installed... To start, why would anyone add more holes below the waterline?! It's unlikely to fail. But if it does... What then? You can't reach it to plug it with wood. You may be able to dive down and plug it. But that seems dangerous if being done in the heat of an emergency.

A drill pump and garden hose cleans ours out in the fall and spring. Antifreeze over the winter. Maybe larger CDs have a better bilge scenario than our 25?...

[Neil Gordon]

You may be able to dive down and plug it. But that seems dangerous if being done in the heat of an emergency.

Not to mention the stormy part and the dark part.

I opt for antifreeze, and turning the bilge pump off.

[Jim Cornwell]

I use a jug of antifreeze in the bilge too, but I'd MUCH rather have a drain so I could get the bilge really clean and so there would be no worries in wintertime. Properly installed and tightened before launch every season, the chance of trouble would be pretty remote. Has anyone installed a drain in a CD that didn't originally have one?

[Klem]

A drain would certainly solve the issue but is not necessary in most environments.

We have done our own shrinkwrap for several years and managed to always have a dry bilge during the winter (not the summer though). While the vents in the cover are helpful, the don't get as much flow rate as is desirable. We do our shrinkwrap to only 2-3" inches below the rail which results in a nice natural vent around the bowsprit in the bow and prevents moisture being held against the hull. People with fancy hull paint will sometimes even go higher and leave a gap between the rail and the shrinkwrap but I am not sure I would want to leave hatches open like that. We also have a little frame that creates another nice vent opening in the stern so there is excellent airflow through the cover. We make sure to seal the cover up as well as possible to prevent water from getting on deck and sitting. Inevitably, there are 1 or 2 days a winter that the temp and humidity are just right that it is a swamp under the cover but this never lasts long enough to be a problem.

I haven't spent any time in NS in the winter, only the summer so it could be that it is simply too humid there. We keep our boat in a fairly humid spot in Mass and it will evaporate the last gallon that the bilge pump can't get to in under 2 weeks and then the bilge stays dry all winter.