Selfbailers, open or shut while mooring?

[sven@tryding.se]

Hi,

I own a BR20 that I will from this summer for periods moor in a marina.
When I did that the last summer I had on occasions quite a lot of water in the cockpit.
How should I keep the bailers, open or shut? I had them shut but for reasons I don't fully understood I got water in the bulge and in the cockpit anyway.
I don't normally fill the waterballast.
If try keep them open should I ensure that I get more weight in the bow rather than in the stern?
Br
Sven

[Graham W]

Sven,

If your self-bailers are in the sump just ahead of the outboard transom, then it's best to keep one of them open when moored.  Especially if you lack a cockpit cover to keep the rain out.

As an experiment, open one bailer and then get out of the boat onto the marina pontoon.  The sump will slightly fill with water (maybe a few cm) and then stop.  That is the self-regulating level beyond which it will not go, even if you pour many bucketsful of water into the cockpit.  The excess will simply drain away through the bailer by gravity.  There are three important provisos to this: if you keep the water ballast in, the sump will fill to the top but the water probably won't reach over the cockpit sole (until you get back into the boat); make sure that any bungs from the ballast tank into the sump are sealed tight, otherwise the ballast tank will slowly fill up from the sump; and whatever you do, don't weight the boat down by the bow, otherwise rain will collect at the front of the cockpit and not drain away.

One slight downside of this is that the bottom of your sump may get slimy to the top of the maximum water level.  I even found elvers (baby eels) in my sump once.

[sven@tryding.se]

Thanks for the advice.
I will follow your advice,  it sounds wise.

Br
Sven

[Julian Swindell]

I find that my self balers always leak and the ballast tank fills, even if I left it empty.

[michaeln]

I fitted a second self bailer last year. It was well sealed to the hull. But there is a leak from the inside of the self bailer. So there was less water collecting if the self bailer was left open rather than closed.

I was planing to see if there was a replacement seal available but Julian's comment make me wonder if that would be worthwhile?

[michaeln]

I fitted a second self bailer last year. It was well sealed to the hull. But there is a leak from the inside of the self bailer. So there was less water collecting if the self bailer was left open rather than closed.

I was planing to see if there was a replacement seal available but Julian's comment make me wonder if that would be worthwhile?

[Graham W]

Andersen do seal replacement kits for each of their bailer models.  I keep one in my spares kit but I seem to have been lucky with my non-leaky bailers in my sump (so far).  I think the bailers in the front of the ballast tank are more prone to leaks as they get bashed about on the trailer.  I had mine removed and blanked off.

[michaeln]

Thanks Graham I will check my model and order a kit. Do you know if it is straightforward to fit the replacement seals?

[Graham W]

Luckily, I haven't had to do it so far but there must be someone on the forum who has.  I think that it's probably a bit fiddly (very small nuts and bolts to deal with) but relatively straightforward.  I found this helpful article on t'interweb http://www.optistuff.com/info/faq/instructions/ANDERSEN_BAILER_REPAIR.pdf

[johnguy]

I have a lovely new Bre delivered last autumn which I keep on a marina berth in Cardiff. I found that with bailers closed the cockpit flooded very deep, especially as the cover acted as a sort of efficient rain trap. If I left them open the cockpit sole flooded to a depth of an inch or so, which meant a vigorous pump out each time I wanted to sail, plus a slimy deck and sump. Plus my outboard well was getting slimy. So I took the boat back to Matt and had the cover securing modified so it actually keeps water out. I also had the well and sump copper coated. And I had a submersible bilge pump and battery installed, charged by a solar panel which plugs in by the mast and which I secure to the boom while moored, the boat lies nicely east-west. Now I leave the boat moored with ballast in and bailers shut, ready to go sailing, and each time I come to the boat the cockpit is dry and only a tiny bit of water in sump. Plus copper coat in sump and well keeps slime at bay. Result.

[Wave Sweeper]

Is such a cover available anywhere - other than the one that fits on the outside of the boat and would appear to be extremely difficult to fit whilst afloat? I was under the impression that I would need to send someone a template to use? In fact I have it here, waiting for me to post it, but would much rather buy a tried and tested one.

Sven,
  Especially if you lack a cockpit cover to keep the rain out.

[Graham W]

Chris,

I got this one from the yard when I first bought my boat http://www.swallowyachtsassociation.org/smf/index.php/topic,1419.msg10351.html#msg10351

Installing it afloat needs some careful planning but is possible.  It's probably best to end up on the stern as you secure it.

[Wave Sweeper]

Graham, yes thanks, I have one like that but don't fancy trying to erect it when afloat. I tried leaving it open last year but had two problems - 1) the 1/2 inch of water in the cockpit grew algae which made using the boat very unpleasant and 2) there was an industrial amount of Guano all over the boat!
When I kept my Coaster on the same mooring it had a small cockpit cover fitted in seconds and had neither problem.

[sven@tryding.se]

Graham, Interesting option to blank off the bailers from the ballast.  I also suspected that towards the end of last season I got leaking  water in the ballast, whithout having it filled on pupose. At least when a pulled the boat back up the trailer it was a considarable amount of water leaving the tanks. I will consider to seal the ballastbailers, at least temporarly, somehow.

Also very interesting to read about other approaches, johnguy e.g. Thanks.

[Graham W]

I do have one bailer in the ballast tank but it's at the back under the main red and black inspection hatch.  It faces the wrong way and is used to fill up the tank much faster than the standard bung.  No leaks from that one so far either.