jacksonkev
Member III
Hi all,
I have a newish to me 1980 E30+. I bought her a few years ago and we've had drought conditions in California since. This year, there have been some huge storms and my bilge/pump setup is being tested. (sidenote-I recently had hand surgery and it makes it infinitely harder (if not impossible) to crawl around into tight spaces such as the infamous lazarette of the E30+). Normally, I run the bilge pump and a couple cups of water may or may not come out and I check the bilge in the center of the cabin floor and it's always bone dry. Today, I went down to check on her after the most recent deluge and found the bilge about 1/2 full about 2 inches above the top of the keel bolts. I flipped on the manual on/off bilge pump (located aft of the sink/deck drain/icebox/raw water thru hulls) and about half of the water in the bilge pumped out and it stopped there. The pump runs but no more water comes out. In my 4-6 trips from the cabin to the stern to check for water draining, I noticed that the cockpit drains were full of water just above the cockpit floor (said another way, I could see there was water in there but only to the top of the drains). I then noticed that the sink had a ring of mucky residue to about the level of the cockpit floor. At this point, I sat in the cockpit eating my peanut butter and jelly sandwich and started to think about all of the odd possibilities and evidence that led to this going on in my bilge and drains. I then went down in the cabin and sponge bailed out the bilge into a bucket (about 7 gallons..fun). Now, let me preface by saying I think Bruce King is one of the better boat designers out there but I honestly have no idea how or why the plumbing on this boat is so complex. I owned an E29 for years and loved it's simplicity. It had a huge bilge with a bilge pump located in said bilge and it pumped out water as it came in. The sink was well above the waterline and the water ran out it's own thru hull. The icebox drained into the bilge. Simple. Now, for a few questions...
1. Since I can't crawl around or use tools very easily (hand surgery), does anyone have a good plumbing/bilge diagram? There isn't one in the docs section of this site and I can't find one on the interwebs. I'd like to see a visual of how the hell this boat was designed to pump out or passively drain rain water.
2. Does anyone have firsthand knowledge of the standard issue bilge/plumbing system on the E30+ and have any insight on upgrades or where to look to troubleshoot or unclog hoses, strainers? I honestly don't know if the bilge under the dinette is the sole bilge or is there another behind the engine?
3. Does anyone else here think having the cockpit drain connected to the sink drain which is connected to a sink that is below the cockpit floor is a major design flaw if not a serious safety issue? Does anyone have a workaround that they feel comfortable about?
4. I'll take any firsthand accounts or advice about the bilge/drains/plumbing....I'm all ears.
Thanks in advance!
Grumpy One Handed Wet Winter Sailor
I have a newish to me 1980 E30+. I bought her a few years ago and we've had drought conditions in California since. This year, there have been some huge storms and my bilge/pump setup is being tested. (sidenote-I recently had hand surgery and it makes it infinitely harder (if not impossible) to crawl around into tight spaces such as the infamous lazarette of the E30+). Normally, I run the bilge pump and a couple cups of water may or may not come out and I check the bilge in the center of the cabin floor and it's always bone dry. Today, I went down to check on her after the most recent deluge and found the bilge about 1/2 full about 2 inches above the top of the keel bolts. I flipped on the manual on/off bilge pump (located aft of the sink/deck drain/icebox/raw water thru hulls) and about half of the water in the bilge pumped out and it stopped there. The pump runs but no more water comes out. In my 4-6 trips from the cabin to the stern to check for water draining, I noticed that the cockpit drains were full of water just above the cockpit floor (said another way, I could see there was water in there but only to the top of the drains). I then noticed that the sink had a ring of mucky residue to about the level of the cockpit floor. At this point, I sat in the cockpit eating my peanut butter and jelly sandwich and started to think about all of the odd possibilities and evidence that led to this going on in my bilge and drains. I then went down in the cabin and sponge bailed out the bilge into a bucket (about 7 gallons..fun). Now, let me preface by saying I think Bruce King is one of the better boat designers out there but I honestly have no idea how or why the plumbing on this boat is so complex. I owned an E29 for years and loved it's simplicity. It had a huge bilge with a bilge pump located in said bilge and it pumped out water as it came in. The sink was well above the waterline and the water ran out it's own thru hull. The icebox drained into the bilge. Simple. Now, for a few questions...
1. Since I can't crawl around or use tools very easily (hand surgery), does anyone have a good plumbing/bilge diagram? There isn't one in the docs section of this site and I can't find one on the interwebs. I'd like to see a visual of how the hell this boat was designed to pump out or passively drain rain water.
2. Does anyone have firsthand knowledge of the standard issue bilge/plumbing system on the E30+ and have any insight on upgrades or where to look to troubleshoot or unclog hoses, strainers? I honestly don't know if the bilge under the dinette is the sole bilge or is there another behind the engine?
3. Does anyone else here think having the cockpit drain connected to the sink drain which is connected to a sink that is below the cockpit floor is a major design flaw if not a serious safety issue? Does anyone have a workaround that they feel comfortable about?
4. I'll take any firsthand accounts or advice about the bilge/drains/plumbing....I'm all ears.
Thanks in advance!
Grumpy One Handed Wet Winter Sailor