little boat BIG PROBLEM

[chrysler]

I have Chrysler Pirateer that I love sailing. Problem is, I keep it in the water at the dock year round and it is constantly filling up with rain. Do anyone have a solution to this? I tried a small pump for harbor freight, but it seems like there is still water in the hull. Should I cut a hatch? Is there a cover I could buy to keep the water out? Is there something I could build to keep the boat out of the water? Any solution would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks you.

[NYSail]

Are you sure its rain water only? And doesn’t boat have an automatic bilge pump? First thing is to a as ctually find the source of ingress.....

[chrysler]

Thank you. I am pretty sure it is rain but I will check that. Good point about the bilge. It is a small boat that does not have a bilge pump. Is there on I can install?

[Lake-Effect]

Originally Posted by chrysler

I have Chrysler Pirateer that I love sailing. Problem is, I keep it in the water at the dock year round and it is constantly filling up with rain. Do anyone have a solution to this? I tried a small pump for harbor freight, but it seems like there is still water in the hull. Should I cut a hatch? Is there a cover I could buy to keep the water out? Is there something I could build to keep the boat out of the water? Any solution would be greatly appreciated.

Some sailing dinghies have what are called self-bailers or automatic bailers. Google either of those terms for some examples. The idea is that once you get the boat moving under sail, these bailers will suck the water out of the dinghy.

Otherwise, you'd need to rig up some sort of cover that goes around the mast, maybe over the boom, to keep the rain out.

[Spot]

Picture from SailingTexas,com
Cover I saw 'googling' Pirateer
https://www.slosailandcanvas.com/pir...at-deck-cover/

[Paul Kelly]

I am pretty sure you can get solar powered bailers these days. A small solar panel connects to an electric pump giving it enough power to do 'trickle bailing'. Might be worth Googling that.

There are also pumps that work from power generated by moving mooring lines. But if you are on a dock that might not be appropriate.

[sailormed]

Lookup "Drainman" pump. It is 100% mechanical and triggered by the tension in your mooring lines. Price here in Europe is around €45. Should be enough to pump out rainwater.

[TrentePieds]

Chrysler:

Little open dinghies like this are not, normally, left in the water between outings.

Sailing clubs normally have a "dinghy lot" where these little boats sit on dollies that are meant for transporting them between the dinghy lot and the launching ramp only, or they sit on their road going trailers. There are also places where they are hauled up onto a pontoon, but they are never left in the water between sails.

Whatever the storage arrangements are, people who treasure their dinghies have a fitted canvas cover for them to keep the rain out, a cover like that shown in a previous post. Nevertheless, some rain always comes in, and the boats are therefore always stored with their sterns lower than their bows. At the very bottom of the transom there should be two little "plugs", one on each side of the centreline of the boat. You unscrew the plugs when the boat is on the hard so any water that gets in around the canvas cover can run out the plug holes.

As someone said, some dinghies have "self bailers". They are little flaps in the bottom of the boat that you can open when you are moving fast. Then the boats motion through the water will set up a suction that sucks out any seawater that may have come over the side of the boat during hard sailing. They are not meant for draining rainwater. That is what the transom plugs are for. Sail bailers often leak when the boat is not moving, so if you boat has them, that is an additional reason not to leave her in the water.

If you treasure your boat, haul her out onto the dock between sails and fit her with a canvas cover between sails.

As dinghies have no electrical systems, you cannot fit a bilge pump. Before you "take advice" on line, do make sure that you are taking it from someone who is familiar with your kind of boat :-)

Hope that helps :-)

TrentePieds

[Lake-Effect]

Originally Posted by TrentePieds

Little open dinghies like this are not, normally, left in the water between outings.

Sailing clubs normally have a "dinghy lot" where these little boats sit on dollies that are meant for transporting them between the dinghy lot and the launching ramp only, or they sit on their road going trailers. There are also places where they are hauled up onto a pontoon, but they are never left in the water between sails.

It is convenient, though, if you have a free dock or mooring, to have your dinghy rigged and ready. Much easier to jump in, untie, and go!... than to carry to water, launch, rig,... then the reverse. My friend has the exact same issue with rainwater at his cottage, where his beat-up, old but sailable dinghy is on a mooring.

As dinghies have no electrical systems, you cannot fit a bilge pump.

... except if you have a dockside battery or powersupply to run it. So a removable self-actuating pump (bilge or sump) with safe powering might be a possible solution.

[guyrj33]

Originally Posted by chrysler

I have Chrysler Pirateer that I love sailing. Problem is, I keep it in the water at the dock year round and it is constantly filling up with rain. Do anyone have a solution to this? I tried a small pump for harbor freight, but it seems like there is still water in the hull. Should I cut a hatch? Is there a cover I could buy to keep the water out? Is there something I could build to keep the boat out of the water? Any solution would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks you.

There should be NO water in the hull, that air space is your positive flotation in case of a capsize. I suggest a careful look for where water is entering the hull. One common spot on small sailing dinghies like this one is the mast step.

[sailingchiro]

We have a Buccaneer 18' Chrysler for a sailing dinghy. It has the self bailers and they leak into the cockpit when we are stationary. As a result, we never leave it in the water without use. I believe it would be full of water as well if left unattended.

[jen1722terry]

Fun little sailor, the Pirateer.

Should you wish to store your boat in the water with the mast and boom up, you could look into making a boom tent.

Maybe look at the Sailrite website. They have plans for all kinds of covers and boom tents. They also sell the marine canvas you would need, as well as the button snaps to attach the tent securly to the boat.

We've made many canvas projects for our various boats over the years and found the folks at Sailrite to be extremely patient and helpful for beginners.

Good luck, and do enjoy sailing that fun boat.

[Jdeuel]

Does the hull have a drain plug somewhere on the transom? That's a likely culprit, since most of the flanges are installed with 2 screws and a gob of silicone. The plug itself could have an O-ring that's shot, as well.

<EDIT>. I found a few photos of Pirateers-definitely has the drain plug style I'm referring to.

Pull the boat out of the water and take out the whole drain plug housing. Let the water drain.

Have helper use the output of a shop vac, NOT an air compressor, and LIGHTLY pressurize the hull through the drain plug hole. I liked to hold the vacuum hose about a quarter-inch off the transom. You CAN blow the deck joint with too much pressure. Now, get a bucket of warm, soapy water and a sponge, and go around the boat, basically everywhere there's a screw or fiberglass joint, and look for bubbles. Check that the gudgeons (they hold the rudder to the boat) are tight. Look for any signs of leakage around the pins where the shrouds and forestay attach. Last but not least, flip her over on the lawn and look for thinning or cracking around the bottom of the daggerboard trunk. That was something I came across often in my BMW (Boat Maintenance Worker) days. More common on boats that were pulled up on the beach.

Good luck!!

[RaymondR]

Probably less of a problem in the long run of you mount a diaphragm pump on the dock with a hose you can throw into the bilge and just manually pump it out.