drain holes

[captainpond]

I have a 74' 20 ft sea craft. I have 2 drain holes on the deck in the back towards the transom. They go straight to the bottom. Ive never seen this before. Whats up with this.

[McGillicuddy]

Those are your self-bailing scuppers.
They work fine. However they can be a source of water intrusion problems when the tubes separate from the bottom of the hull and then then the wood blocks that support them. If you are getting water in the bilge, that is often a source. Sometimes it goes undetected, and sometimes you'll see a stream flowing along the top of the stringer.

This is a common repair and if problematic, it is easily resolved in a couple of hours. Brass tubes cost about 5 bucks a piece and a flaring tool costs about 35. Some folks have made their own flaring tool.

Do a search for thru hull scupper repair.

Because of their narrow beam and low floor the 20's have a "wet feet" problem if a couple of people are on the stern while still. Not a problem on the move... You can put plugs in them while anchored to keep your feet dry.

[Bushwacker]

They're called scuppers; purpose is to drain water off the deck. If you'll look at the bottom closely, there should be some wedges forward of the scuppers which create suction to actually suck water out when underway. However if your boat's center of gravity has been shifted aft by installation of a baitwell, motor heavier than 300-400 lbs (on a 20' hull), or a bracket or jackplate that moves the motor aft, you may have a problem. Not only will the boat not ride as well as a SeaCraft was designed to (because of the aft CG shift), the at-rest stern waterline may be deck level! Then you will have to leave the plugs in or use Fellowship's clever "Vortex" scupper check valves. (Or move fuel tank & batteries fwd, raise the deck, etc.!)

[bigeasy1]

Yep they're scuppers as mentioned.
I love, love, love, my 23" Seacraft Tsunami,(it's an I/O)but I hate those scuppers.
I'm not familiar with the 20's but I would move as much weight as possible forward of the stern.A pair of plain old drain plugs is invaluable when you want to make sure water stays out.

I unfortunately have a kicker motor that weighs 110 lbs,along with four down riggers with another 60lbs of weight on them located at the stern.
That along with the weight of the I/O package being heavier than an outboard,and an engine box, bilge & transom that I overbuilt makes the boat very stern heavy.
This renders the scuppers useless when one guys in the corner fighting a fish,especially in the spring,when the water temp is in the high thirties to mid forties.

As soon as everybody is seated again,or when at the dock they work fine.
I've tried the Vortex method and sometimes they work great and other times they don't.
I lay in bed at night thinking of ways to make a fool proof anti water intrusion do jiggy.

[Bushwacker]

Hey John,

I've found that the vortex plugs work real well, but if you install 'em after boat is in water and at rest, you have to be carefull to pack the glove finger part of it up under the PVC part so the water doesn't push it up and get it caught under the "O" ring during installation. Water won't drain out if that happens! By the way, I'm now using some blue Ansell nitrile gloves that are the toughest gloves that I've ever seen! Previously used some purple nitrile gloves that were better than vinyl but not as good as the blue ones. Got both at W-mart. Denny

[bigeasy1]

Thanks Denny,
Yup,I also found the Nitrile gloves to be better as they are much tougher.I'll have to revisit the vortex thread,as I made mine a little different.
Sometimes what happens,is that the finger gets pushed up the plastic tube in the opposite direction and water enters the boat.
I just used some short pieces of cpvc tube,and attached a finger to it with the end cut off.I also used an o-ring at the top of the tube.
I'll have to take another look at the the Vortex.

[FELLOW-SHIP]

FellowShip

………………………….

Just for the Grins

Official 23’ SF Antique Classic SeaCraft Owner

[captainpond]

thank you