Water over the bow

[spromisloff]

A couple of issues occurred this weekend with my R31S as I was motoring from Portland to Astoria, Oregon.
We ran into some heavy wind and steep short chop, and despite slowing down and trimming the bow up as much as possible, took a lot of water over the bow and onto the foredeck. Two things occurred which were unpleasant. The first is that the Dorade vent intake on the foredeck (constructed to keep out vertical, not horizontal water) was constantly buffeted with the wash. As a result, its interior vent over the master bed dripped a good deal, leaving a giant puddle. The second is that the "well" alongside the starboard pilothouse door filled to the point that water was leaking in over the threshold. Later inspection revealed that the fenestrated drain hole cover could not allow the water to exit fast enough. Easily cured for the future, by removing the strainer. Anyone have experience with the vent issue?

 

[HappyPlace]

We have a R31 CB and I typically turn the dorade vent aft when traveling to avoid any "over the bow" water from directly intruding. We have not had the boat long enough to attest to the pilot house door drain pooling up. It must have been a considerable amount of water.

Best,

Al Sr.

 

[spromisloff]

Thanks for the tip on the dorado, Al. A simple yet elegant solution. We were taking on a considerable volume of water due to the steep chop and the need to run 15 NM before we reached our destination. The tug did great otherwise, and the 4 wipers were a blessing.

 

[jcarrdive]

We have just had Andrew over to examine and re-caulk our foredeck vent. The O ring in it has slipped off a bit and allowed it to leak in heavy seas. We will turn our vent backwards when underway in nasty weather or high winds from now on. The pilot-door drain looked like an issue, so we popped the strainer off of it the day we go the boat. We have dogs, so our boat has no strainers on it at all. I typically run a fresh water hose on full blast down the drains to wash out any dog hair or dirt that might be stuck out of sight in the hoses/pipes.

Also to note, we had one of our cubby-hole windows come open in rough seas. Caught it right away, but did get a little water in the cubby. Andrew has looked at it also. The window dogs seem to be a little loose and I tightened them some but did not want to break the dog. It appears to work, but it might be something you may want to look at also.
Jeff and Ela
Wallowa r31