Too Many Holes In My Boat.

[Snapdragon]

I finally got around to closing up the two holes in my boat that were my biggest concern.  After rerouting the cockpit drains into the outboard motor well above the waterline, I used my new fiberglassing skills (Grog to Capt. Smollett for the detailed instructions) to eliminate any possibility of a through-hull failure.  The cockpit drains are now only about 10 inches long.  You can see the new fiberglass patches in the foreground.

[gregorygraham]

This thread is a gold mine of info.  Thanks guys.

[Snapdragon]

Over the past couple of months I've been getting a little more experience sailing Puff around the Blackwater, Escambia, and Pensacola Bay area, and I've come up with a short list of things I'd really like to change.  I really don't feel qualified to make changes to a boat design that has been around for over forty years, so I'll ask for your input to guide me as I attempt to "re-invent the wheel".

The first item on the list is the annoying rythmic "sloshing" sound that is made by water being trapped in the motor well by the forward motion of the boat.  It seems that the rear bulkhead of the motor well, which forms the transom of the boat, extends below the waterline far enough to push water back into the well when under way untill the rising water level develops enough "head" to force the water back out under the transom.  This results in a sound similar to someone chopping a rotten log with a dull axe.  Kinda detracts from the serenity of the sailing experience.

As a solution, I've decided to cut out a section of the transom about a foot wide to a point about an inch above the waterline.  I don't think that there are any structural reinforcements in the area to be cut out, but the transom and aft motor well bulkheads form a double walled area with about a two inch void between them.  I plan to install a frame of 2X2 oak strips just inside of the void and lay in a half inch of fiberglass to finish it off fair with the hull.  Your input will be much appreciated.

[s/v Faith]

Remind me how large of an outboard you are carrying?  I suspect that it has as much to do with trim as it does with design.  Might be easier to either add weight forward, or remove / relocate it from aft to get her to sail on her lines.

I know that having a couple extra folks in the cockpit makes Faith drag her stern.. with 'drag' being the imperative word.  Adding the big Manson Supreme on the bow, and 60' of chain helped the problem significantly....

... one of the many reasons I would not want to go with the bigger outboard.

[skylark]

Consider adding a false bottom to your outboard well.  A false bottom is fitted around the outboard leg, and is not water tight, but slows the flow of water into the well.  You can make a two part false bottom with hinges to allow removal of the outboard, or you can make something that you just jam in place, even out of foam.  The false bottom can be attached to the outboard leg.

A well designed outboard well false bottom should reduce drag of your hull through the water.

[Snapdragon]

I'm using a Nissan 9.8 four stroke for power that weighs in at a little over 100 lbs.  I carry up to 12 gallons of gas in the stbd fuel locker, about 25 lbs of secondary anchor, fenders, and dock lines in the port cockpit locker, one deep cycle battery under the companionway steps, fifteen gallons of water under the port berth just aft of the mast, a 25 lb CQR on the bowsprit with 80 ft of 1/4 inch chain.  A spare deep cycle battery and a 55 lb thrust electric trolling motor along with the porta potti which holds about five gallons of water are stored in the forward compartment between the berths.  I mostly sail solo, so crew weight rarely exceeds 215 lbs. 
On my last trip I also carried some food items stored in the ice box under the dinette seat, and a five gallon container of water on the floor directly under the mast support arch.  The noise was most pronounced when sailing on a broad reach with about 10 kts of wind.

If trim is indeed the problem, I'm thinking about taking the outboard out and storing it in the forward cabin and just using the electric trolling motor.  This will shift a significant amount of weight forward, and also encourage me to fine tune my sailing skills.

Putting a false bottom in the motor well is an interesting concept, but I'm having trouble visualizing how it would be done.  Does anyone have any experience, or perhaps pictures, to give me some ideas? 

[CharlieJ]

Some ideas here (James Baldwin site-he posts here)

http://atomvoyages.com/articles/improvement-projects/257-tritonsalty-1.html

[David_Old_Jersey]

Before getting out the angle grinder etc, maybe have a word with the Snapdragon Owners Association? - you can't be the first, and given the numbers built would be surprised if not an easy "fix".

[jpfx]

I too have an outboard well (RR23). I find the sloshing sounds not unpleasant to the extent that I don't worry about it. I could get vexed but it's a sailboat after all and the sloshing, lapping sounds are par for the course.
I did put 60lb of lead towards the front of the bilge recently and although I haven't been out enough to say for sure, it seems to have smoothed the motion of the boat moving through the water some.
My boat is not stocked for cruising so most of the day sailing weight is towards the back end with OB, fuel, fat helmsman and whatnot.

[Snapdragon]

The proposed area to be removed is marked with tape on the transom, but I think I'll just step away from the cutting tool for a bit and think about this.  Maybe I should just move on to item 2 on my list and come back to this problem when I understand it better. 

[Snapdragon]

Item 2 on my "bugs me" list is the mainsheet traveler that loops above, and forward of, the motor.  It does the job, even if it is a little shakey, but it's right in the way when servicing the motor and makes it very difficult to lift the motor out of the well.  Also you can't lock the mainsheet block in position,  it's free to slide to either end.
I'm considering attaching a line across the transom to existing padeyes on the extreme corners of the transom and running the mainsheet block to a fixed loop in the middle of the line.  Does anyone have experience with this sort of set-up?

[Jim_ME]

Hi Bruce,

Some opt to convert to a cabin-top-mounted traveler, like as the one shown here.

-Jim

[Jim_ME]

I also like the concept of the infill boards that fit around the outboard lower unit.

Here is another example from James Baldwins website (to add to CJs) from an Alberg 35 outboard well conversion with a good photo of the infill boards. [An interesting modification in general--replacing a 4-cylinder (40-hp?) diesel inboard with a 9.9 hp outboard on a 35-foot sailboat.]

Personally, I would be very reluctant to cut through that corner between the hull and transom, as it seems like it would be a structural change that would require considerable reinforcing around the new opening to maintain the structural integrity of the area. Also feel that the transom and the traditional lines around it are an important character feature of the boat, and worth preserving--especially if you have a good alternative modification in an area that is not so visually prominent [not that it is hugely so...yet I always think of the transom as the place where you apply its name and personalize the boat, etc., and to have one look good and intact does add a lot, IMHO.]

[Bill NH]

There seems to be something fundamentally wrong about having through-hulls this far below the waterline just to drain a cockpit that can?t possibly hold more than six inches of water before overflowing into the motor well. 

From where the cockpit drains are located (at the after corners of the cockpit), could you just run them out through the transom?  From the inside one can't see where the waterline is but it might be possible...

[Snapdragon]

That's pretty much what I did Bill, except that I ran them through the forward bulkhead of the motor well.  That worked out even better because the through-hull fittings are now hidden from view and are about five inches above the waterline.  If you compare the pictures in reply #17 and reply #20 you can see how much shorter the drain lines are.