July 1, 2011. Over the years there have been various comments about thru hulls by owners on their individual boat pages. Here we will, over time, try and collect them. We'll start with Clinton Hodges' comments about his restoration project on Windswept too, Yankee #245.

Hi Ron,

Windswept too's refit continues, and is going well. Except...and I don't care to use that word. However, I must, and here's the conundrum I'm facing.

In above picture are two thru hulls. The one on the left is a 3/4 ", silicon bronze, flush-thru hull, with a flange diameter of 2 9/16", or 65mm. The thru hull on the right has a flange diameter of 1 15/16, or 49mm.

If I can't locate a used 3/4" thru hull of a flange diameter of 2 9/16", I don't see many options except to braze the threads from a new thru hull to the balance of threads on the old flange, or to totally glass over the hole.

Off the top of your head, do you know of used marine parts stores that might possibly have a bin of used thru hulls???? Webmaster Note: For used marine stuff I hunt around but my favorite place is in Wickford, RI. They have an online catalogue. http://marineconsignment.com/boat-parts/ There are others on line. Good luck

I wouldn't be in this situation if it wasn't for the under-the-sink thru hull being directly connected to a thru valve instead of a seacock. Strange as it is, a thru valve costs nearly as much as a flanged seacock, so I wonder what the reasoning was back then? $ probably. The cockpit drain has a similar, but larger 1 1/4" valve. Could it have come from Yankee Yachts this way? My understanding is that thousands of sailboats are plumbed in this incorrect manner. So it's anyone's guess how many sailboats sit on the bottom of the ocean because an improper valve was used on a thru hull.

Regards, Clinton Hodges

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August 3, 2011. Your webmaster and Jonnie Walker, Yankee #227 had an exchange of emails regarding thru-hulls and invite additional comments. Minor edits

Hi Ron,

I'm going to remove the through hulls for the head as we have had good experiences with composting heads, this leaves me with two holes under the waterline....I don't have any problem with the sink drain because it has a seacock on it to close it....but the cockpit drain makes no sense to me.

In mine....(I don't know if others are different)...the drain comes out of the forward section of the cockpit and goes almost straight down to a through hull with a seacock on it. Here is my problem......

If I leave the boat, and I close the seacock the cockpit will not drain. If I leave it open I am reliant on the hose which I know some day will fail. Maybe I am over sensitive, but I don't like holes under the waterline. Has anyone else worried about this?

I'm thinking about moving the through hull aft and up above the waterline and piping the hose there.I havent done any measuring to see it there really is enough room but looking at it I'm pretty sure it will be close.

-j

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Hi Jonnie
Marionette has the same set up you do - 2 drains on the cockpit floor at the forward corners. They drain straight down through hoses that connect to thru hulls - no sea cocks. My hoses are 'heavy duty' reinforced rubber exhaust type hoses fastened with ss hose clamps. I worry about them but as far as I can tell they are going to outlast me. I worry more about possible corrosion of the thru hull pipe that is inside the hose - I can't see it. Once I tried to take off the hoses and I could not budge them....On the outside of the hull the thru hulls looks perfect. So, I forget about it until guys like you remind me.

Also, those drains need to be left open as otherwise you risk flooding the cockpit from some freak wave, heavy rain, maybe then ice and freezing...etc. This has always puzzled me. A seacock usually makes sense, of course. But when it is part of a 24/365 drain system - a sink or head drain are not - the skipper is not on board 90% of the time to close the seacock if there was a failure. If you leave the boat at a slip or mooring with closed drains for a few days the cockpit can fill from heavy rain, maybe flood through the companionway slides, fill the boat and you have a big problem... Maybe the better solution for these particular drains is a strong thru hull/hose/clamp system and regular inspections which is probably why they were done that way in the beginning?

These comments have not been cleared by legal....

Ron

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Back on April 23, 2011 your webmaster had a conversation with Jim DeMeola, Yankee #90. Here's the excerpt

Three weeeks ago the hose for one of the cockpit drains failed and the boat sank at the dock. She was raised last week and there was not much damage - its cold, fresh water - the sails, cushions and motor were not on the boat. One of the bow chocks pulled out, and for some reason the centerboard wire parted. The boat is dried out and will be hauled in a few days.

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There are some interesting comments and pictures of fittings by David Baumer, Yankee #81 in his restoration report http://www.dolphin24.org/aeyla_summer_report.html

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