Boom Drain

[keneasley]

Thought you all might get a kick out of this -

I was out sailing a few weeks ago and got caught in a sudden rain storm. I was in deep water in the middle of Long Island Sound and it turned into quiet a squall. I furled the genoa and road it out with just the main. Pretty manageable to continue sailing. The rain got very hard and the main sail got a very good washing.
Within 30 minutes the skies cleared, the wind lessened, and the seas calmed. A couple of hours later I got back to the mooring and was completely dry from the warm sun and wind.
Anyway... Ever since when tacking I would see water come out of the boom. There is a bail for the mainsheet about mid-boom and water would come out from the bolts. This had never happened before and I generally don't get caught in the rain and keep a cover on the mainsail when in port.
So yesterday I drilled a small hole in the bottom of the boom near the aft end. Water poured out. Maybe two cups of nice clean fresh water.

boom_hole_1.JPG (1.89 MiB) Viewed 279 times

boom_hole_2.JPG (2.86 MiB) Viewed 279 times

I'm not recommending that you try this but if you do then I'd recommend a cordless drill that you don't care about or a non-electric hand-drill. I could see a definite electrocution concern.

Ken

[JD-MDR]

Or raise the boom so the water flows to the other end. Then lower it to drain

[keneasley]

Thanks. Hadn't thought of that.

[Ben Miller]

Tangent: I crew on a Tartan 4100 in our local beer-can races. It has a big Park Avenue-style boom (the top of the boom is shaped like a wide gutter to catch and store the main). Whenever we get a good rain storm several GALLONS of water will accumulate in the boom and in the folds of the sail. Lifting the end of the boom with the topping lift drains a lot of it, but not all, so when the main gets raised and the water shakes out of it, whoever's downwind gets a pretty good shower.