Broken fish box drain

[gwwannabe]

I noticed that the plastic fitting that attaches the drain hose to my starboard fish box has broken and any water going down that drain is going into the bilge. Unfortunately, any water going down the deck drain in front of the pilot's chair is going into the bilge, too, because of the way the drain line is T'd.

How do you get access to the underside of the fish box? I have an inspection plate on the gunnel near the fish box but there's only a couple inches between the inner liner and outer hull. Hopefully I don't have to cut a hole in the bottom of the fish box or the deck to make the repair. Any insight will be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Gary 89 Overnighter

 

[sfc2113]

I wish had some insight, fortunatly When did my thru hulls I replaced my fwd deck drains as well, I also had a leaking stb box drain as they are all connected. I cut the hose at the t and plugged it up and dont use the stb fish box any more except for storage. Be carefull with that broken fish box drain the water that get in from the stb thru hull is probably dumping into the bilge as well because water gets in.

I have had water shoot right up out of the cockpit drain tubes right from the thru hulls if enough waves or wakes hit it quickly.

Am planning on replacing both fish box drains this fall, I am going to try using some pvc pipe from the t to the drain with a threaded 90 deg so I dont have to use hose clamps under there and just screw in the drain from inside the box, it is way to tight in there to use a screw driver.

 

[richie rich]

that fish box drain will be the death of you....its pretty much only accessible from inside the fuel tank area as I just learned about this during a rebuild...there may be an access hole somewhere in the little sleep area on the port and starboard side, but I think its unreachable from there.....this may be one of those swearing Saturdays (as there's no swearing on Sunday) when you're trying to access that one

 

[gwwannabe]

Thanks for the replies, SFC and Richie. Considering what I was saying while I was trying to figure out how the access the drain, I can only imagine what I'll be saying when I attempt to fix it. Definately not a Sunday job.

I considered just plugging the Tee as I use that fish box for fenders and lines but in heavy rain I get a lot of water in there due to the pitch my boat sits at on the lift.

SFC, I like your PVC idea. I was thinking about disconnecting the drain line (looks like black plastic water pipe) from the Tee and pulling it out. Hopefully it has the same threaded 90 degree el that the cockpit drains have. I'd take the broken piece out then feed it back to the drain hole. With help and a lot of luck, could thread a new fitting back in.

Another thought was to cut a hole in the bottom of the fish box or deck and putting an access hatch there like we have over our fuel tanks.

Another thought was to cut out the bottom of the compartment under the pilot's seat but I think it would be too far for me to reach.

Already this project is starting to grow - "Well, if I have to do this, I may as well do that." Thinking now of doing the thru hulls while I'm at it.

Richie, your posts often remind me of when I lived in CT. Lived in Manchester and several other towns and father-in-law lived in Waterford. He kept his boat in the Niantic River and was an avid fisherman. I got him into scuba diving and he turned me into a fishing fanatic. Your post on another thread about the Race being rough reminded me how snotty it can be out there. That's a place you have to experience to believe.

Gary 89 Overnighter

 

[richie rich]

Niantic River is where I is...

Before you do any cutting, I'd contact your GW dealer or GW themselves and see what they advise.....there may be a better way that the rest of us don't know about and you don't wanna start cutting at will and possibly mess up a nice boat

 

[sfc2113]

Thanks for the replies, SFC and Richie. Considering what I was saying while I was trying to figure out how the access the drain, I can only imagine what I'll be saying when I attempt to fix it. Definately not a Sunday job.

I considered just plugging the Tee as I use that fish box for fenders and lines but in heavy rain I get a lot of water in there due to the pitch my boat sits at on the lift.

SFC, I like your PVC idea. I was thinking about disconnecting the drain line (looks like black plastic water pipe) from the Tee and pulling it out. Hopefully it has the same threaded 90 degree el that the cockpit drains have. I'd take the broken piece out then feed it back to the drain hole. With help and a lot of luck, could thread a new fitting back in.

Another thought was to cut a hole in the bottom of the fish box or deck and putting an access hatch there like we have over our fuel tanks.

Another thought was to cut out the bottom of the compartment under the pilot's seat but I think it would be too far for me to reach.

Already this project is starting to grow - "Well, if I have to do this, I may as well do that." Thinking now of doing the thru hulls while I'm at it.

Richie, your posts often remind me of when I lived in CT. Lived in Manchester and several other towns and father-in-law lived in Waterford. He kept his boat in the Niantic River and was an avid fisherman. I got him into scuba diving and he turned me into a fishing fanatic. Your post on another thread about the Race being rough reminded me how snotty it can be out there. That's a place you have to experience to believe.

Gary 89 Overnighter

I Just keep a large sham wow in the fish box and after it rains I just ring it out, it will hold like a 1/2 gallon of water and absorbs any moisture in the box to keep the stuff in there pretty dry.. but I only keep my bumpers and my drift sox in there.

 

[gwwannabe]

OK. Since my last posting I spoke to customer service at GW and visited Southeaster Marine in Richmond. As a reminder, I had to replace the cockpit deck drain on the port side and the fish box drain on the starboard side.

Up to fairly recently, the deck drain fitting screwed into a 90 degree El fitting that has a hose barb end. Even tho' the part you see on the deck looks like a thru-hull fitting, the threads are not the same. Problem is, the deck fitting that screws in is no longer available. It has been replaced by a one piece fitting - part # 11-101.

The fish box drain fitting is part # 11-066 and as luck would have it, my Grady dealer had one in stock. This part screws into the 90 degree el that is attached to the end of the drain pipe. This is actually a sink drain made by Forespare. Their part # is SW-1. http://www.forespar.com/onlineCatalog/2 ... ains.shtml.

Customer service at GW recommended cutting thru the bottom of the compartment under the helm seat. I thought about this long and hard and studied the port side to get an idea of how effective this would be. With the drawers and cabinet frame out of there, you have pretty good access but try as I might, I couldn't see or do anything back where the fish box drain is.

I spoke with my dealer about this and the parts manager said if you don't have arms like an orangutan, you can't do it. Well, I don't. I tried a few other ideas but finally opted to cut a 6" opening in the bottom of the fish box. Boy am I glad I did.

As I suspected, there is virtually no room to work if one cuts out the bottom of the box under the helm seat. Secondly, there was a fair amount of standing water under the fish box. The way GW foams in the hull, water gets trapped between the hull/side wall and the foam. It can't drain back to the bilge pump. I found 2 pockets of water on the starboard side and one on the port side.

With the hole in the fish box, I was able to pull the drain hose up where I could see the El and get the old drain fitting out. As I was looking at the threaded El, I could see that it was not perpendicular to the fitting. This put some twisting force on the fitting and ultimately caused it to break. I had to loosen the clamp and straighten the El in order to thread the new fitting on.

After lots of mumbling and grumbling and some cursing (ok, lots - it's not Sunday) I finished the project. It was a lot more difficult than I expected. I always seemed to be working at arms reach and able to get only one arm/hand in there. Regarding the fish box drain - if I'd have cut a hole anywhere else, there is no way I could have done the repair. SFC, I strongly suggest you take the port side drawers and liner out so you can evaluate your ideas knowing it's even tighter on the starboard side.

Sorry for the long post but I hope it provides some of the insight I was looking for when I asked for help.

Gary 89 Overnighter

 

[richie rich]

Thank God it wasnt Sunday eh?

Not sure why GW made a one shot deal for the drain hose as they don't last forever....you'd think an access port could be placed "somewhere"...but it is what it is.....now you're set for another 20 years!