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Message 7 of 7
Posted by member Geoff Burrell on Friday 9 November 2018

Hi boaters, reading all the above, I wonder if any one has investigated the bilge area below our Bosun's cabion floor. The boat is in the yard for the winter and Ive noticed a slight weep coming from the two holes drilled to accept press studs screws just inside the door. I'm not sure how much room there is below the floor and have not yet removed the table support to have a look. Anybody ever fitted a 4" inspection hatch in this space?
the boat was built 2001. Any thoughts would be very wecome.

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Message 6 of 7
Posted by member Tim Guest on Monday 19 April 2010

Steve, Interesting. I haven't investigated below the cabin floor yet - the alloy base support for the table is somewhat corroded, and I plan to remove it for a clean up, and then have a poke around through the resulting hole. I may decide to fit an inspection hatch there. Kyle, That's what I suspect. One of the previous owners has removed both the inspection hatch and the cockpit table mount, so I have temporarily two holes to investigate. The communicating one-inch hole seems to be right at the bottom of the wall against the hull skin, which is why I feel it must have been made during the building process. I suppose that it might possible with some sort of right-angle attachment and a hole-cutter, provided the table mount was temporarily removed, but I don't have anything like that. A hole higher up would allow most of any water through, though, I guess, and removing the table mount could allow an extra bilge pump to be added, routing the exit pipe via the higher hole. Not sure how to arrange the necessary electrics, though...

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Message 5 of 7
Posted by member Kyle Kerr on Thursday 15 April 2010

Tim, it sounds like on your Pilot there is a hole in the tray, between the tray and the closed bilge (under the cockpit sole). It would appear to have been built-in on your hull, but for some reason omitted on mine. I guess I need to open up a hole through the fibreglass tray, to allow water in the closed bilge (when it gets to the level of the hole) to drain into the tray. Just to confirm, is the 1 inch hole right at the bottom of the forward side wall of the tray? Thanks for sharing your information with me, it is much appreciated.

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Message 4 of 7
Posted by member Steve on Wednesday 14 April 2010

Hi Tim, I have something similar in my 25, puzzled that it doesn't communicate with the pumped compartment as you are I can only assume it is for inspection purposes only. My channel runs below the fuel tank through the small apeerture you have found to an inspection plate at the front of the cabin. Hope this helps. Regards, Steve.

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Message 3 of 7
Posted by member Tim Guest on Tuesday 13 April 2010

..to add to my earlier post - I have located the fibreglass skin, but I found a one-inch hole at the lowest point which allows water to drain through. Given the position of this hole, which is cleanly drilled, it would be very hard to make after contruction, so I'm wondering if this is a feature rather than an afterthought.

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Message 2 of 7
Posted by member Tim Guest on Sunday 11 April 2010

Kyle, Interesting - I'm also working on a new bilge pump arrangement in a Family Pilot 20. I have found the bulkhead hole you mention , but unless I'm miassing something, I haven't seen any other fibreglass skin, and water seems to drain into the aft tray from under the cockpit more or less OK. I am puzzled about what happens under the cabin floor. The boat was sitting slightly nose down on the trailer in the boatyard, and I could hear water sloshing around under the cabin. In order to drain the decks better through the scuppers, I've angled the boat stern-down, which appears to have drained the bilge also. Any advice on whether all the bilges actually communicate, and if not, whether extra pumps are required, would be gratefully received.

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Message 1 of 7
Posted by member Kyle Kerr on Monday 5 April 2010

I am nearing completion of the restoration and upgrade of my Family Pilot 20 which I purchased 18 months ago. I have admired the lovely e lines of these beautiful boats and can certainly confirm that they have a very solid construction as per their reputation. I have installed bilge pumps in the tray under the transom and notice that their are bungs in both aft lockers to allow them to communicate and drain water into the tray. Regarding the closed bilge, there is currently no communication with the tray. I have noticed by looking through the 4 inch inspection hatch in the cockpit sole that there is an approximately 1 inch hole through the bulkhead just forward of the tray. However it does not go straight through the tray as there is a skin of fibreglass foreward. My question is - should I be opening up a hole through the fibreglass skin to allow the closed bilge to drain into the tray when it rises above the level of the existing hole in the bulkhead. Any advice would be very welcome as I am unsure of the design philosophy.

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