Self-bail installation for 19' C-dory query

Dog River Brat

Greetings. Has anyone installed a self-bailing system on a 19' Angler? Or is there an after market cover that will prevent water from collecting in the stern bay? Any response appreciated.

thataway · Posted: Tue Nov 29, 2022 4:58 pm Post subject:

It would be very difficult to make a C Dory 19 self bailing. This would require a floor in the cockpit which is above the waterline at all times. This would make the combing only a short distance from floor, and you would add a safety rail, higher than the C Dory 25 has around the cockpit. Then you have the problem of an open cabin--and if you could seal this off with a water tight bulkhead. It would be a step down to the cabin, seats etc.

To keep water out, either a slant back or a full camper back will keep spray out, but if a wave breaks over the boat, you will have water aboard. Generally C Dorys lift very rapidly because of the hull form.

Dog River Brat · Posted: Tue Nov 29, 2022 5:42 pm Post subject:

Appreciate the advice, Bob! I have the slant back cover which is only fair at keeping the water out. Especially while underway. As you probably know being from P’cola, the sideways rain effect frequents the area. Have considered adding some button snaps to help.

thataway · Posted: Tue Nov 29, 2022 6:44 pm Post subject:

The slant backs I have owned have snaps all of the way around the cockpit, outside the gunnel. You can put a vinyl awning rail, and then slide the forward part of the slant back down into the rail, which gives a watertight connection forward along the side of the cabin house. With this set up there will be little water getting, if any. But you also loose vision aft (Back up camera from Amazon "solves" this issue, or as I note below, build a window in the slant back.

It is easy to make a slant back out of shelter rite, which is a vinyl material with Dacron scrim--similar to the material that inflatable boats are made of. Seams are glued with HH-66, and destructive testing shows fabric fails before the glue line. Snaps are easy to set along the edge-I would double or triple the fabric where the snap is placed. Awning rail rope by Keder glues in nicely, since it uses a similar vinyl. (See Sail Rite website). I made a full camper back out of this material with full windows all around--if you wanted to glue in a clear vinyl window in the slant back, it would be easy to do.

Dog River Brat · Posted: Tue Nov 29, 2022 11:24 pm Post subject:

Good info, Bob. Curious if there is a company who fabricates custom slant back per customer needs. Was yours with button snaps a pre-fab purchase? Even that would be good visibility or not to keep the stern dry. Assuming the vinyl window could be cut into the material, although my thought process tells me even with it, there might not be much visual improvement.
Again your help is appreciated.

T.R. Bauer · Posted: Wed Nov 30, 2022 12:01 pm Post subject:

This might be one of those times where it's just easier to get a whole different boat.

thataway · Posted: Wed Nov 30, 2022 2:28 pm Post subject:

The visibility thru a slant back would depend on the quality of the clear vinyl used. If you used "Strataglass" or "Clear To Sea" or similar high end, then the vision would be fairly good. If the cheap vinyl, not so good.

Any good canvas worker can make what you dream up..(or better). I went with the glue, because my sewing machine was acting up and the glue method was faster than sewing.

rogerbum · Posted: Wed Nov 30, 2022 5:38 pm Post subject:

Just to further Bob's point about the feasibility of a self bailing cockpit on the 19, IMHO, there are very few boats of less than about 30' in size with effectively functioning self-bailing cockpits.

The Tomcat and the 25 both have self bailing cockpits but neither one drains very quickly or effectively and I've found the same is true for most boats in this size range. Not only does the cockpit floor need to be above the water line, the farther it is above the water line the better they drain. The typical distance from the cockpit floor down to the scupper output is only about 6". Furthermore, on a Tomcat with full fuel, the scuppers are submerged or partially submerged depending on other weight loads so you might only have 4-5" of head pressure to drive the water out.

It takes 2.31feet of head to generate 1PSI so 6" is only about 0.23PSI of water pressure. That's not much pressure and it results in a relatively low flow rate our of a 2" or so diameter hose/hole, especially when the hole has a scupper valve at the end that requires a little pressure to open it. IMHO, self-bailing starts to function fairly well once you get the deck about 12" above the waterline. The problem is that to achieve that without having a boat the looks weird takes a boat of 30' or greater in length as otherwise the height of the cockpit walls/railing necessary to keep people safely inside looks too tall for the length of the boat.