Can you name this bilge part

[albertjizhang]

Hey guys,

So here are pics of the bilge on my Dufour 35. It looks quite nasty I’m sorry and I will start cleaning ASAP.
However, the blue thing and the rusty lock thing, it should be attached to the keel, and it’s in the way for me to thoroughly clean the bilge. But I just don’t know the name of it, thus I can’t search for more info online. Can you tell me what it’s called?
Also, the vertical grp structure circled in red, I don’t see that very often in bilges of other boats, it’s a hollow shell of fiberglass and it’s not attached to the hull. I’m not sure about the structural significance of that. And it’s also in the way and I’m thinking about cutting it away. Please let me know before I do something real stupid. Thank you very much

[Bowdrie]

That "rusty lock thing" is a lifting eye/shackle.
Look at the interior side view drawing in this link, it shows that part attached to the keel.
https://sailboatdata.com/sailboat/dufour-35

[SailingHarmonie]

Your boat is built of two pieces. A hull, and a “liner.” It was built that way because it is the cheapest way to build a production boat.

The part you have circled in red is a structural beam in the liner. DO NOT cut it away.

This is a boat built to a price point. There are no parts that were installed by the builder that are not required for the structural integrity of the boat.

[TrentePieds]

Albert:

That "rusty lock thing" is called a "shackle". As you see, it is attached to a very heavy piece of metal that sticks up from the bilge. Its dimensions are such that it seems capable of holding the entire weight of the boat, say six tons, and its location, according to the drawing to which Bowdrie referred you, is just about where one would expect the Centre of Gravity of the completed hull (without rigging) to be. Furthermore, according to the drawing, there seems to be a deck hatch immediately above it so located that the cable of a crane can be brought in through that hatch in order to hoist the boat. If my surmise is right, the sticky-up piece of metal would then be integrally imbedded in the keel.

This is speculation on my part since I've never been to the Dufour factory, but the "lock thing" may be a device used for hoisting the hull off the "hard" (the factory floor) and into the water at the factory before fitting the rigging. It would be perfectly reasonable for the factory to leave the shackle in the boat for possible future use.

As Sailing Harmonie said: The "white bits" that are in your way are an absolutely essential structural part of the boat's hull. They are called "floors". DO NOT CUT THEM!

I recall when you came aboard last summer you confessed to being an absolute novice. Let me compliment you on dealing with the problems of a fairly sophisticated and complex boat you said yourself you regretted buying. You deserve even more credit for having come back to ask us questions to help you understand your boat. As a general rule, before you "modify" anything, ask us, as you've done in this thread, about the advisability of doing it. There is a world of knowledge in this forum, and it's all yours for the asking :-)!

Do not despair at the amount of work involved, there will be an end to the trials, but do also be sensible about how much work you want to do both in terms of labour and in terms of dollars. Trying to make the bilge of a boat like yours look "factory new" is a mug's game, and there is absolutely no practical need for it. Once the deck sole — what a landsman would call "the floor" — is in place you won't see the bilge. And with occasional use of "bilge cleaner" (a super-dooper powerful dish washing detergent) you won't smell it either :-)!

Tell us: What is that black tube (or cable or wire, perhaps?) that goes into the bilge in the first and last photographs? What does it attach to? And was there anything attached to that brown square plate in the top of the floors just aft of the shackle?

TrentePieds

[HeinSdL]

Directly above the shackle in the cabin roof there should also be a hole, size couple of inches, closed off with a plug/lid. The lifting sling attached to the shackle would pass through that hole while lifting the boat

It is worth having such a sling on board. Dufour should be able to provide one of the right size. I have one (of some synthetic fibre making it soft, easy to store), which has proven handy on occasions when eg a regular boat lift was out of action (or in the absence of).

[DoubleD]

Although it would be difficult to remove the rusty shackle, I'm not sure I would use it to lift the boat based on its current condition. Since your current project is to clean the bilge, trying to remove the shackle may not be worth the effort at this time. Although the rust won't help keeping the bilge clean. If you ever consider lifting the boat in this manner, buy a new shackle and keep it in your tool box, not the bilge. Good luck with your bilge cleaning.


DD