Access Hatch to Outboard Well

[Peter Cockerton]

Following a launch yesterday with the boat still tied to the pontoon i noticed the boat was filling with water. previously i have forgotten to close the tank access hatches and as a result the water does come out of the main hatch, however this time i know i closed the fill valve and the self drainers because the wind was light.

The water was coming in through the sump to outboard well access hatch because i had forgotten to put the cover back in from the last outing.

The thoughts are how far would this go if the hatch failed in open water, i know my 15 stone body weight at the back of the boat wasn't helping but that's where i would need to be to helm. I didn't get off the boat to see if it carried on but my thoughts are the boat would get heavier as the water came in, the tank may start to fill as well through a slack hatch and as such put the boat lower in the water also not helping.
Anyone else done this simple mistake.

[Graham W]

Experimenting with self draining while on a mooring, I left my sump/outboard well inspection hatch open for a few days.  It filled the sump with water (obviously) but that was all.  Apart from some green algae and an elver that had taken up residence. 

As long as your ballast tank is empty, I doubt that it would go much further than the sump, with or without your 15 stone.

I have inadvertently left bungs and self drainers open more times than I care to remember, filling the ballast tank when I wanted it empty.

[Llafurio]

On the boats I know, with all tank hatches and well hatch and tank bungs and selfbailers left wide open, the boat if left on its own for any time will remain afloat and the cockpit will selfdrain all rain and be dry - until you step in. Only then the cockit floor will get partly wet.

Usually you will not leave the boat on the mooring with all tank hatches and bungs and bailers open. Usually you leave the boat on a mooring with the tank empty, all tank hatches and bungs closed, and with the sump selfbailers OPEN. The cockpit will reliably selfdrain through the selfbailers, and you will step back into a dry cockpit.

On some of the early plastic BRs the tank could fill up, with all bungs and bailers closed, but that was just a sealing problem in production and was remedied quickly.

If you are uncertain, the simple way to test the tank bungs, bailers and seals is to take the boat out of the water, and fill the tank to the rim with a pipehose. Any leaking seals will then show, and a bit of boat grease can do the trick. (Can only be done while there is no pipehose ban in operation  .)

[Graham W]

On the boats I know, with all tank hatches and well hatch and tank bungs and selfbailers left wide open, the boat if left on its own for any time will remain afloat and the cockpit will selfdrain all rain and be dry - until you step in. Only then the cockit floor will get partly wet.

Usually you will not leave the boat on the mooring with all tank hatches and bungs and bailers open. Usually you leave the boat on a mooring with the tank empty, all tank hatches and bungs closed, and with the sump selfbailers OPEN. The cockpit will reliably selfdrain through the selfbailers, and you will step back into a dry cockpit.

As an experiment this afternoon, I opened a bailer in the sump and let the water find its own level in my fairly heavily laden but unballasted BR20. If I stood in the stern, the water was just over the top of the forward edge of the sump.  Without me, the water quickly sank below the edge.