[C320-list] WARNING - My boat almost sunk!!

[Scott Thompson]

I'm not sure what you mean by "totally isolated," but I'm pretty sure 
there is a hose on my 1999 boat #653. I can't imagine how the drain in 
the anchor locker would connect to the thruhull just above the water 
line without one. I've always thought this was a serious safety design 
flaw because the hose is difficult to access and inspect, and there is 
no seacock that can be closed. Harry's experience indicates that my fear 
is justified. I'll be very interested if anyone has thoughts on how to 
remedy this.

Scott Thompson


On 10/14/2019 9:00 PM, sail-ability at sympatico.ca wrote:
> Design must have changed after that. My boat has a totally isolated chain locker with drain on the bottom starboard just above the water line. There is no hose. Water could get into the locker if something was forcing the bow down.
> Good luck.
> JohnM
> 1999#574
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
>> On Oct 14, 2019, at 8:52 PM, jackbrennan <jackbrennan at bellsouth.net> wrote:
>>
>> Anyone know how to access this hose?
>>
>> Jack Brennan
>> Sonas, 1998 Catalina 320
>> Tierra Verde, Fl.
>>
>> Sent from Yahoo Mail on Android
>>
>>   On Mon, Oct 14, 2019 at 8:41 PM, Louis Spitz<aronella at gmail.com> wrote:   Wow, Harry, that totally sucks!! A hell of a way to learn such flaws. Hope everything works out for the best.
>> Lou
>> #195
>> Merry Chase
>>
>>> On Oct 14, 2019, at 8:23 PM, Harry Juris <harry at citron-too.com> wrote:
>>>
>>> Polar Star is a 1998 C320, hull number 541 which I have owned since the late
>>> spring of 2014. She is kept on a mooring at the Nyack Boat Club in the
>>> Hudson River just north of the Tappan Zee Bridge. Last Saturday morning,
>>> 10/12/19, I received a phone call from one of my fellow club members saying
>>> that Polar Star was way down by the bow and they were on their way to  bring
>>> it to one of our docks. I got to the club about 45 minutes later just as
>>> they were securing her at the dock (having barged her in with one of our
>>> work boats) She was indeed down by the bow with the water about halfway to
>>> the deck. Going aboard I found that the water in the main cabin was halfway
>>> up the back rests of the settees.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> We have several high capacity pumps at the club and immediately started to
>>> pump her out. It took a number of hours to get the water below the cabin
>>> sole so we could start investigating what happened. After eliminating all
>>> other possibilities, we went to the V-berth and removed the paneling to get
>>> access to the anchor locker.  We found that the drain hose had split. The
>>> thru hull drain on the starboard side is just above the boot stripe and as
>>> the boat bobbed on a windy night, water started to back flow into the hose
>>> and then start accumulating in the bow at a rate greater than the limber
>>> holes could transfer it aft. This of course lowered the bow which
>>> accelerated the water intrusion.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> I will follow up later with a description and some pictures of the damage
>>> which appears to be extensive. The only good news so far is that because she
>>> was so far down by the bow, a preliminary inspection appears to show no
>>> water intrusion in the engine. It does appear that water did get in the
>>> transmission and I have already taken steps to try to protect that.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> It is a royal pain to get at access to that hose but I strongly advise
>>> anyone with an older boat to periodically inspect it. I am considering
>>> installing inspection access and possibly plugging that overboard discharge
>>> and running the drain further aft.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Harry
>>>
-- 
Scott Thompson
Surprise, #653