[C320-list] Comments on older C320 "floors"

[Warren Updike]

In this context, I use the word "floor" to mean that area under the sole while the wood surface that is walked on is, well, the cabin sole.  I learned this somewhre, I forget where.  Anyway, last winter I removed the entire sole to refinish it at home.  This gave an excellent opportunity to check all the bilge spaces in the "floor."  

As our #62 is among the oldest C320s, I can't say when the floor/sole design changed; but, change it did.  I used the diagram obtained from the document on our website, and marked all the places where there is a drain from one space to another, and each of the rubber plugs in the stringers.  

For those who have the new floor/sole, On "Warr De Mar,"  after removing the wood sole, there are a number of bilge spaces created by the stringers that run athwart-ship.  Some are enclosed by fore-aft plates epoxied between the stringers.  Some of these "bilges" or chambers have a tube or limber hole to drain into the next bilge space.  Some do not.  The plugs in the stringers are after-market mods to allow any water to be drained from within the stringers.

The speedo on these olders hulls is directly under the 2-drawer cabinet in the V-berth.  To remove it, I pull the cabinet to get close to reasonable access to the speedo.  Even so, it is so unwieldy working in this space that fully one or two cups of water invariably enter the boat.  So, before I undertake to remove the speedo, I first plug and tape the drain tube to the next bilge space then remove the accumulated water when I'm done.  If any moves past the taped plug, it goes into the space under the sole in the V-berth and then into the space immediately aft of the bulkhead.  That space has no drain pipe.  I find it necessary to pull that part of the sole to check.

Under the table in the salon, behind the mast, there are two bilge spaces that have no drain and no plug in the stringer.  Before I refinished the sole, there was water in there forever that contributed to the buildup of mildew under the sole.  The mildew had migrated into the wood of the sole and runined the finish hence the refinishing of the sole.  But, that's anothe story.  Now, we check this space twice a year by pulling the table out with the base on and viewing in the bilge space.  This fall, we found about a cup of water between the two space with no clue to it's source.  

Between the bilge space with the pump immediately fwd of the galley deck on centerline, there is a plug in the fwd-aft place separating this space and the one to port that is between the galley space and the pump space.  The way this hole was drilled through the fillets, it opened access to the space between the stringers.  No matter how I try, I don't seem to be able to make this water-tight with the rubber plug.  Next spring I plan to tape it with outdoor duct tape.  I intend to keep bilge water in the bilge.  If anyone has a similar experience and can offer a better solution, I surely would appreciate hearing it.

Now, if I can get a few consecutive days of stay-at-home weather, I'll post my sole refinish story on the 320 website along with the Hurth Shop Manual that covers all of the Hurth gears.

Warren & Pattie Updike
C320, #62, 1994, "Warr De Mar"
Frog Mortar Creek, Middle River
Chesapeake Bay