Gulfstream 232 deck drains

Roarque

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How quickly should the deck drain on a Gulfstream?

When I was washing the boat (while it was in water) yesterday I was surprised that the drain off water sat in and around the scuppers for about 30 minutes before it all finally disappeared.

Is there some maintenance that needs to be done to keep these drains running free? Any tips as to how this maintenance should be done?

Greg
 
Should drain pretty much as fast as water goes into it. Check the scuppers on the outside of the boat - that's the most common place for clogs to occur. Other then that, probably just have a clog somewhere in the middle. Look down in the hole -- also look up into the hole from the outside. You can carefully snake it, but wrap it with some tape so it doesn't poke through or get snagged on the tubing (try snaking it with a garden hose). You can also try forcing the clog out with a stream of water from a hose (washdown hose probably won't be strong enough)... try from both directions.
 
What was said above, I generally blast water with my dock hose everytime, but it drains really fast.
 
After putting Why Wait on her trailer I found a large build up of mussels on the chrome finish of the scuppers - high pressure water cleared them out BUT this is hard to do when she's in the COLD COLD ocean of the Georgia's Strait for eight months of the year. I wonder if there's a coating I can put on the chrome trim that would discourage marine growth - will "bottom paint" adhere to chrome?
 
I think bronze thru-hulls help eliminate that problem. Stainless and chrome look better, but bronze should be put on boats that stay in the water.
 
Below the waterline, bronze is absolutely the best and you'll find that all the good manufacturer's, if they weren't already, (and many others, as well), over the years, have pretty much transitioned to all bronze (there might even be CG standard for that, but I'm not sure). Above the waterline, it's less important and SS or Marelon is probably the next two best materials, followed by PVC/plastic (which, by the way, have gotten much, much better over the years).

You can certainly bottom paint them, but make sure you're using a bottom paint that does not have copper or graphite in it - otherwise it can cause pitting/corrosion on them. Something I'm not sure of, but would probably be worth a call to the paint manufacturer (like Pettit) would be... if you first paint them with a barrier coat, you might then be able to use the same paint you're using on the hull.