Should I add transom drains/scuppers to my 19-1?

[MrWesson]

Basically the boat has an open transom,low scupper holes,poorly designed(they drain through the motor plate),exist in a 4" deep "splashwell" that collects every piece of dirt/trash from the boat.

Short term solution is a 1300 bilge pump in the back and to plug the holes and pull the plugs offshore and stay out of the back.

My idea would be to add 2 in the corners and keep the others plugged most of the time(maybe pull the plugs in rough seas).


What parts would you use?

I was thinking bigger might be better and use the ping pong ball type scuppers. I removed the splashguard the previous owner had in there and am considering making another one(the right way with starboard) but hoping with the scuppers the water will escape better.

Heres a pic

[gran398]

That sounds good, use the ping pong type.

One thing....that chase run where the cables come out...make sure it doesn't leak. I had one that leaked, water went straight to the bilge. Bilge completely filled with rainwater, boat nearly sank on the trailer one day unloading it. Looked back there....the whole azz end of the boat was full of water... still on the trailer  

I was wondering why that sucka was so hard to push off that trailer

[MrWesson]

That sounds good, use the ping pong type.

One thing....that chase run where the cables come out...make sure it doesn't leak. I had one that leaked, water went straight to the bilge. Bilge completely filled with rainwater, boat nearly sank on the trailer one day unloading it. Looked back there....the whole azz end of the boat was full of water... still on the trailer  

I was wondering why that sucka was so hard to push off that trailer

I was getting considerable amounts of water in the bilge on the first 2 outings so I plugged her up and checked for leaks.

The screw holes where the cover mounts were leaking like crazy so I mixed some peanut butter(epoxy/fiber) and filled them.

No more leaks.

[RickK]

Do you have a drain in the trough below the motor mount?  I have 2 down in the trough that unfortunately the motor bracket covers, so they're useless.
The trough that carries your cabling/fuel back to the motor will be the first to fill up with water so drilling drains at deck level may have little effect until the boat takes on enough water to fill the trough, possibly all the way to the console depending on the attitude of the boat at rest.

[seabob4]

Mr. W,
If that is a current pic, how are you keeping water out of the rigging trough?  Probably a dumb question as by the looks of it, water is free to run in there.  You don't want your harnesses and cables to be laying in a bath of salt water!  Any splices inside that trough, regardless of how well they were done, will eventually fail.  The insulation, although water resistant, will eventually succumb to the waters wicked ways and fail.

My first priority would be to go about how to keep water from entering that trough.  Then it would be on to scuppers...

JMO...

[MrWesson]

Do you have a drain in the trough below the motor mount?  I have 2 down in the trough that unfortunately the motor bracket covers, so they're useless.
The trough that carries your cabling/fuel back to the motor will be the first to fill up with water so drilling drains at deck level may have little effect until the boat takes on enough water to fill the trough, possibly all the way to the console depending on the attitude of the boat at rest.

I have 2 down there under the motor bolts. You are right about the cabling and I hate the design. New plan would be to install them on either side of the motor mount but they would still be at or below water level. I would hope the design of the flapper style or duckbill would eliminate the water coming in but who knows.

Most importantly how do you deal with it?

Mr. W,
If that is a current pic, how are you keeping water out of the rigging trough?  Probably a dumb question as by the looks of it, water is free to run in there.  You don't want your harnesses and cables to be laying in a bath of salt water!  Any splices inside that trough, regardless of how well they were done, will eventually fail.  The insulation, although water resistant, will eventually succumb to the waters wicked ways and fail.

My first priority would be to go about how to keep water from entering that trough.  Then it would be on to scuppers...

JMO...

By design it's next to impossible to keep water out of there. The bilge pump back there pumps out most of it but its been that way for 40+ years and survived so far I guess.

One way would be to fill the original scuppers, somehow cover it all, keep it water tight, make it accessible for the future(motor bolts/wiring), and keep it from having a lip which I could trip or stub my toe on.

Exhausting just talking about it.

Biggest problem would be the wiring and motor cables go in and must come out.. where they come out would be where water comes in and never escapes.

The layout looks similar in the 19-6 except the cover plate for the wiring is further right and they have the same through that also connects to the wiring.

[seabob4]

Yes it is a bad design, but, like you said, it's survived for 40 years...

[RickK]

The trough "is what it is" - the design of these early models was to keep the above deck and below deck separate with no way for water to get into the bilge.  The trough facilitated your wiring and cabling path for the past 40 years no problem.  I have the same trough and am considering putting it back in during the rebuild.  Haven't made the decision yet.  It does get funky in there but never had a problem with any hoses, wires, cables etc.
As for the water getting in the boat, I keep the plugs in and if I get water in the trough I pull a plug while on plane and out it goes, slowly.  That was part of the reason I dove into the rebuild: to raise the deck allowing drain plugs that worked.  When I pulled the drain plug at the bottom of the hull only a few drops came out, if that.

[seabob4]

Yes Rick, it does get funky in there...

[MrWesson]

The trough "is what it is" - the design of these early models was to keep the above deck and below deck separate with no way for water to get into the bilge.  The trough facilitated your wiring and cabling path for the past 40 years no problem.  I have the same trough and am considering putting it back in during the rebuild.  Haven't made the decision yet.  It does get funky in there but never had a problem with any hoses, wires, cables etc.
As for the water getting in the boat, I keep the plugs in and if I get water in the trough I pull a plug while on plane and out it goes, slowly.  That was part of the reason I dove into the rebuild: to raise the deck allowing drain plugs that worked.  When I pulled the drain plug at the bottom of the hull only a few drops came out, if that.

I like to keep it plugged and use the bilge pump when running the bays and inshore but when offshore I pull the plugs because it can get wet out there.

I decided I am going to add the thru hulls in the back or in the corners first then work on the annoying wiring area.

I think it can be solved by cutting wood to fit, use fiberglass/resin for strength, the trough is already designed with a lip, screw down tipped with 4200,use 4200 in the seams, use a rubber gasket to clamp around the wiring and glued water tight to the hole cut for them.

My main/only beef with the current setup is that they drain through the motor plate. Them being underwater can be fixed by flaps/duckbill/or ping pong style.

Since the trough ends at the left side motor bolt it cant be simply relocated further left.

Another simply solution would be 3 scuppers one off to the right of the motor plate in the trough and one in each corner and close the two that exit through the motor. Scupper in the trough drains the wiring area and the other 2 drain the deck.

Would save me the effort with the wiring mess.

[wingtime]

Yes Rick, it does get funky in there...

Yeah it does!  Look what was in my 1987 170 trough!

[RickK]

The whole problem stems from motors changing their width over the years. When your boat was born the engines were lighter and the bracket width fit between the drains, not covering them up and being lighter meant that the scuppers were above the waterline and actually worked.
Then the motor bracket grew in width a couple inches and that was it for our old scuppers. Plus we wanted bigger hp motors which are heavier and that put the scuppers under water.
25 years ago, when I had the inline 6 cyl merc on mine everything was good and the scuppers were above the waterline and I could leave the plugs out.

[MrWesson]

Yes Rick, it does get funky in there...

Yeah it does!  Look what was in my 1987 170 trough!

Mine is every bit as nasty.

Worst part is if you dont keep it clean all that junk just finds its way to the scuppers/trough.