Bow area bilge ?

G

Greatlakesboater

New member
As a new owner of a 22ft C-Dory I notice that underneath the portapotty in the bow area of the boat there is a small circular recess with a removable cover. Once removed the space below is cut through the foam fill down to the fiberglass hull. Would I be right in assuming this is some sort of bilge area to catch condensation. Otherwise, I'm not sure what the point is since there is no obvious way to remove water that collects there other than to sponge it out.
 
On the newer boats there is no foam in that area. My '13 Angler is without the foam and is totally open under the v-berth area. I'm not sure when they started leaving the foam out.
 
I just finished cutting out three large hatches in the V-berth flats on my boat, so I got to see what was going on in there.

My boat (and others I have seen) have that circular hatch under the porta-potti from the builder. This may only be in the boats that did not have foam "blown in" to the forward section (mine did not have that type of foam in the main V-berth under area, but had blocks of foam just set in place). At any rate, on my boat there is a combination of hard foam and "blown in" softer foam under the "cockpit" area (if you will) of the V-berth. I don't think it would collapse without that, but it seems to have been put there as a support aid (which you could also achieve by other means, but this was easy and economical for them). If I removed that foam (which I may) I would want to be certain that that "cockpit" was adequately supported. Maybe it's fine, if others have no support there and also have no problems, but I would want to be sure.

On a 2009 22 I looked at, the builder (Fluid) had put in three hatches in the main v-berth area (like I just did) but there were also two mini-bulkheads running from side-to-side just about at the forward end of that "cockpit" well section. This is something I may very well do. It would help do the same thing that the foam underneath seems to do - stabilize the "cockpit" well there.

Mike: If your boat has no foam under the sole of that "cockpit" area (that holds the porta potti), do you have any mini bulkheads under the v-berth? Or is it all 100% wide open? Does that well move or flex at all?

As mentioned this area should not get water in it; if it does, you likely have a leak from the anchor locker or the brass stem guard (or the boat was sitting nose down and took on water from aft that flowed forward).
 
I meant to add: You asked why this "bilge" is there. Well it's just because that is the shape of the hull (a slight "V") but then they also wanted to make a flat sole so that one could set down the Porta Potti and plus use it conveniently. Also there needs to be a structure to make a flat V-berth to lie on. Hence the V-berth surface and the "well" that hold the Porta potti are a big drop-in liner piece that is attached to the hull. The little bilge area, when you look at the bottom of it, that is the inside of the actual hull (not a convenient shape to stand or lie on in that area). So it's not so much that they were trying to make a bilge, as that they were making a flat sole for the Porta potti, along with a flat V-berth for a bunk.
 
Sunbeam":150t2rsc said:
Mike: If your boat has no foam under the sole of that "cockpit" area (that holds the porta potti), do you have any mini bulkheads under the v-berth? Or is it all 100% wide open? Does that well move or flex at all?
Click to expand...

The area under the berths is wide open. There is a drop in hatch on either side and one at the front. That area seems pretty rigid. The flat berth surface is glassed to the hull all the way around at the sides Here is a photo from the area under the starboard berth looking forward.

47_G.jpg

I'm not sure what is under the floor where the porta potti sits but I'd be surprised to find any foam there. Probably either plywood cored fiberglass floor or just fiberglass with a hollow area under. It's glassed to the hull along the bottom edge so I can't see what is in that area between the hull and the deck of the porta potti area. I'm going down to the boat tomorrow, I'll take a better look then.
 
Aurelia":13d597tg said:
That would normally be a owner added access to check for moisture and/or use for additional storage. If you are getting water at that location, basically something is leaking and should be fixed. I keep my tools in the same space of our boat and never get moisture in there. See my album for a couple of pics.


http://www.c-brats.com/modules.php?set_ ... _photo.php

Greg
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Actually for the year (and probably most other years), the access port below the porta potty was added by the factory. That's a port that one can use to check for water intrusion in the area under the berth. There is rarely (if ever) water that EXCEPT for some of the boats built in that era and on which the brass bow guard was installed improperly (screws too long).
 
Thanks for the feedback. I would guess as Greg suggests this is intended to check on moisture in the forward hull area. Apparently it was at one time a feature added at manufacture. Although I was intrigued by its use for storage it's so small that I find it hard to believe that was its original intent.
 
I read your post quick enough to think your hatch was near the portapotty and not under it. I don't have a hatch under the potty space. That would indeed be a slim space but the raised section after of the potty holds more than you might think. Every little bit helps on a cruising boat and because that space is always clear on our boat, the tools are always quickly at hand for repairs and adjustments that always come up.

Greg
 
As for the Inspection Port's function in checking for water, my older 1987 CD-22 Cruiser simply has a brass hull drain fitting at the back end bottom center of that compartment that drains into the cabin when the plug is removed to check for water intrusion. (Mine's always been dry.)

Doesn't allow one to look around much inside the compartment, but the source of water wouldn't probably be right there, either.

Joe. :teeth :thup
 
mgarr682":1jyhsk8b said:
I'm not sure what is under the floor where the porta potti sits but I'd be surprised to find any foam there. Probably either plywood cored fiberglass floor or just fiberglass with a hollow area under. It's glassed to the hull along the bottom edge so...
Click to expand...

That would be the difference right there. On my era boat (and I would guess most earlier boats), that "well" is not glassed to the hull. Rather, it is supported by foam underneath it. In my case, a combination of a hard, surfboard type foam and some softer, injected type foam. I'm thinking I'm going to glass in a couple of mini bulkheads, and I may also glass the edges of the well as on your boat. The foam provides fine support, but it's hard to clean and things can roll under the "well."

Other than that foam under the well, my boat is also wide open up there, and the V-berth top is glassed to the hull sides like yours. I would think the V-berth flat being glassed to the hull would be common to all the boats. What seems to differ slightly is the way the well is supported (it's supported to keep it from "wagging" or distorting when people sit/step there).

As for the round "inspection port," on my boat, at least, there would have been no other way for them to get the foam in under the well. Since my boat did not have injected foam in the main body of the area (it was blocks of styrofoam, clearly set in place before the V-berth flat was dropped in and glassed to the hull), there were no holes or ports in the V-berth at all save for that little round one under the Porta Potti. From the looks of things (after I cut out the three large hatches in the V-berth flat I could get a good look at all of it), the hard foam in my boat was put under the well first (plus the big blocks of styrofoam), then the V-berth flat was lowered in and glassed in place, and then foam was injected through that inspection port to fill in any gaps under the well, and then to top was screwed in place while the foam was still curing (I say that because I could not get it unscrewed, and could only remove that round hatch by unscrewing the outer ring, and you could then see where the foam had dried right up against the round inner part.

I believe later boats (but before Mike's Angler) had foam injected into the V-berth in large volume (instead of big blocks like mine), which they did through ~1" holes in the top of the V-berth flat, so then the other round port was not needed (the one under the porta potti on my boat).
 
oops, ran out of time...

So in summary, I think the variations we are seeing have a lot to do with how/if/where the foam was put in under the v-berth or under the well. I don't think the 6" round port was put there for us to "inspect," so much as it was put there to enable the builders to get the foam in place on boats like mine that did not have injected foam under the whole V-berth. So it's a construction artifact.

My boat: Big blocks of styrofoam under the V-berth, and hard foam put in place before the V-berth flat was lowered in, then soft foam injected through the 6" round hatch that now lives under the Porta Potti (to help support the well), the lid "slammed on" and all left to cure. No other way besides the round hatch to get that last foam in there (until now, when I have made hatches).

Later boats: The whole area under the V-berth was injected with expanding foam, through a number of 1" holes in the V-berth (later plugged), which probably also went under the well. So no need for the 6" round port under the Porta Potti (as foam was already there).

Even later boats (like Mikes): No foam under V-berth at all, and well apparently glassed in place. Probably no 6" port necessary there either.
 
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