Deck drains

[brettportzer]

Seems like the bigger motor yachts have deck drains either on the after deck or on the gunwales before reaching the aft deck.

One of the most annoying features on the 43DC, at least one without wing doors, is that all
of the water that comes on to the boat when it rains runs down the gunwales and off the stern at the cleats.

Considering putting in drains on the gunwales to divert the water down to a through hull.

Is this reasonable to consider?

And if so, would the drain itself be a custom type thing or a piece of fiberglass that I could get from Sam’s and install along with whatever grate is needed, etc.

There is plenty of room and access to do this, if they are indeed effective and to my mind more easily accomplished then an exterior method of diverting the water overboard.

Enough water runs through there sometimes that it intrusive.

 

[SEVEN]

I did that on my old Chris CrAft and it worked perfectly. I drilled a 3/4 hole from the deck at an angle downward. I installed a copper pipe/tube and embedded it with 4200. I let the end stick out far enough to let the water drain out but not drain onto the hull. I cut the tip at a 45 degree angle. It worked great.

 

[racclarkson@gmail.com]

Did pretty much what Rusty said except on a bench seat drain. There, I drilled the existing hole out to 1/2" and inserted a heavily flared piece of 1/2" copper cemented in with Marine-Tex. Once it set up, I applied some epoxy putty from the underside for insurance. From there, I ran copper and hose to a 1/2" thru hull on the outside of the bench. Granted this is a smaller scale version of what you want, but it works great and the compartment below is now dry. I'm sure you'd want something a bit fancier than flared copper; my deal is concealed by seat cushions.

I also have flybridge drains that drip water onto the sides of the house. It's usually a slow drip, drip, drip and can streak. There, I inserted a slightly curved piece of 3/8" copper (maybe 3/4" long) into the 1/2" drain hole with some 5200. This took the water off the house and down to the side deck. It's a small thing, but it made a difference.

 

[brettportzer]

I think I would go down to a thru hull just like the sinks, but I would need a better collector than just one hole, I think that wouldn’t capture enough water.

 

[eze2bme]

When I bought my 1979 43DC it had a deck drain on each side walkway with a starboard "dam" installed to keep water from running onto the aft deck. This drain was located just forward of the gangway entrance where the Isenglas enclosure started. I installed 2 additional deck drains on each side of my walkways and plumbed to new overboard manifolds with discharge bronze thru-hulls just above the waterline. Drilled holes in the deck - sealed the core with epoxy and used 3M sealant. Does a good job of draining off the water. Will try and attach a few pictures. Let me know if you have any questions.

 

[brettportzer]

Do you have a picture which shows placement on the walkway?

This is exactly what I am envisioning doing.

Those are just PVC drains or something special?

 

[eze2bme]

Brett - I'm going to the boat Thursday so let me get some more pictures for you and I'll try and find the invoice for the drains. Tom

 

[eze2bme]

Brett - sent you a PM

 

[oscarvan]

I think I would go down to a thru hull just like the sinks, but I would need a better collector than just one hole, I think that wouldn’t capture enough water.

On my 53' the 4 deck drains actually go down to what Hatteras labels on the blueprints as a "sea chest" which is a drain opening just above the waterline with a "box" on the inside and a scupper on the outside. No shutoff. There's several of them also with the sink drains and AC water drains on them.

 

[brettportzer]

On my 53' the 4 deck drains actually go down to what Hatteras labels on the blueprints as a "sea chest" which is a drain opening just above the waterline with a "box" on the inside and a scupper on the outside. No shutoff. There's several of them also with the sink drains and AC water drains on them.

That part I understand, we have one of those on the boat for the fwd head, AC and fwd bilge pump, but rather the input I have been looking for is regarding the collection method on deck.

Has to be big enough to divert the water, but not a trip hazard, etc.