Self-Bailing Cockpit? Yes. Self-Bailing Boat? No.

[geeviam]

I always figured my 2017 Redfisher 16 was a self bailing boat, and that if I left it in the water - any water that rained or splashed onto the cockpit or deck hatches with channels/gutters, would drain overboard and not into the bilge.  Not so.  The other day, I washed the exterior of the boat in my driveway, and got caught by a surprise thunderstorm before I could put it back into the garage.  The plug was out and the boat was fairly level on the trailer.  It was a heavy rain shower that lasted about an hour.  After the rain stopped, I maneuvered the boat trailer on an incline to make sure it was completely drained before I park it in the garage.  A LOT of water came out of the hull drain.  The bilge pump kicked on at the same time as well.  After checking it all out, it turns out that all the deck hatch gutters drain overboard or onto the self bailing cockpit, except the largest deck hatch under the bench seat cushion.  It has two large gutter drains that empty right into the bilge!  Was this an isolated mistake that was overlooked when my boat was built?  Or are there other late-model Redfisher owners with the same setup?  I have long arms, but I cannot see or reach the short lengths of hose attached to those drains.  I will have to cut holes in the walls of the side compartments, to be able to access the drain fittings, if I decide to fix this myself.  Not to mention - drilling new hole(s) in the transom for thru-hull drains.  Pics attached.

[JakeK]

My 2008 RF16 has the original fore-deck anchor locker that drains all water that hits that  hatch into the bilge and I believe my "couch" perimeter does as well.

[SCFD rtrd.]

I'm not familiar with that boat, but why can't you connect the drain hose in the last pic to a live-well drain hose?

[geeviam]

52 minutes ago, SCFD rtrd. said:

I'm not familiar with that boat, but why can't you connect the drain hose in the last pic to a live-well drain hose?

That's exactly what I'm going to do.  Been looking for the right T-shaped hose barb fittings today.  Thanks for your advice SCFD!

[geeviam]

8 hours ago, JakeK said:

My 2008 RF16 has the original fore-deck anchor locker that drains all water that hits that  hatch into the bilge and I believe my "couch" perimeter does as well.

Good to know, thanks.  Guess I'm not alone on this then.  I know there are a lot of boats out there that utilize a bilge pump regularly.  I've owned a few of them.  Now, I need the piece of mind of knowing the bilge pump is there as a backup, and only needed if there is a leak somewhere.  A wet bilge leads to water intrusion and absorption into the fiberglass layup, which can weaken the strength of the hull over time.  I don't want to deal with that down the road, so I'll be connecting those last two hatch gutter drain hoses to the live well drain asap.

[JakeK]

On 8/12/2019 at 8:56 PM, geeviam said:

Good to know, thanks.  Guess I'm not alone on this then.  I know there are a lot of boats out there that utilize a bilge pump regularly.  I've owned a few of them.  Now, I need the piece of mind of knowing the bilge pump is there as a backup, and only needed if there is a leak somewhere.  A wet bilge leads to water intrusion and absorption into the fiberglass layup, which can weaken the strength of the hull over time.  I don't want to deal with that down the road, so I'll be connecting those last two hatch gutter drain hoses to the live well drain asap.

If you can plumb them to the cockpit floor (one of the sidewalls), that would be better - the livewell drain is a critical point that could cause a sizable water intake to the hull if something were to go wrong with it.  Draining them to the self-draining cockpit also lets you keep an eye on the tubes for good function, clogs, etc.

[geeviam]

5 hours ago, JakeK said:

If you can plumb them to the cockpit floor (one of the sidewalls), that would be better - the livewell drain is a critical point that could cause a sizable water intake to the hull if something were to go wrong with it.  Draining them to the self-draining cockpit also lets you keep an eye on the tubes for good function, clogs, etc.

Good point - thanks.  Just looked, and there's not enough space between the compartments, or around the sides and underneath, to do it that way.  Might be able to drill through both compartment wall and cockpit wall, to drain into the cockpit, but hoses and fittings inside the compartment could get in the way.  I see what you mean though, about how the 1 1/2" live well drain could allow the bilge to flood quickly if a connection failed.