Prout Snowgoose

[rbrentp]

78 Prout snowgoose but this should be most older Prouts, The central nacelle fills with rain water and can fill with salt water when under way. There are small pieces of what look like PVC through the bulk heads to carry water aft. The last one accessible is under the cabin wall to the cockpit. A previous owner installed a hand pump under the cabin entry step. I cannot believe that this is how it should work. I know there is space between the cockpit floor and the bottom of the nacelle. Rain water dribbles in from there. I know it is dangerous to invoke logic, but shouldn't there be a gravity fed drain aft of the cabin on the nacelle?
I just cleaned the old diesel engine compartment and do not see the PVC or any drain coming from forward so I am at a loss as to how the water is supposed to get out on its own. Does anyone know what is normal?

[snort]

I'll try to find a webpage later from a Prout owner who mentioned a problem similar to yours. Apparently there were mistakes made in either the design or the build of this model.

[rbrentp]

Thanks. I hope someone has a solution or at least a description of one. I am pondering cutting out the useless internal gas tank and that might give me access to the area where the drain should be. i would be happy to get it to drain into the old diesel well. Have a pump there and problem is solved.

[svtrio]

I have been wrestling with an extensive refit of my Snowgoose 34 and have opened every closed section of the boat. I imagine the center nacelle of your vessel is similar in design/construction. If you sit yourself amidships as you read this, you will be better able to follow from the bow to the stern and make sense of what I've written.

The nacelle runs the length of the boat. The two forward deck lockers have no floorboard on the nacelle section, i.e., the V-keel is visible. A bulkhead separates the two lockers, and another bulkhead separates the aftermost deck locker from the cabin; moving aft behind that bulkhead, no floorboard covers the nacelle. In my boat, that bulkhead is the forward section of cabinetry, and another bulkhead is mounted about a foot or so further aft and is the opening face of the cabinetry. From that point aft, a floorboard covers the nacelle and is interrupted by a bulkhead amidships, and another at the aft cabin bulkhead, which adjoins the cockpit. The covered nacelle continues to another bulkhead (in between the bulkhead a cockpit locker is created), which adjoins the engine compartment. The nacelle is not covered in the engine compartment, which creates a rather deep space below the engine. Some people have added a floorboard below the engine. I did but removed it on this iteration of changes to the boat.

Years ago, I glassed over the wood bulkheads in the forward lockers, where the anchoring gear is stowed. Each locker has a drain in the keel (well above the waterline). However, I recognized that over time water could settle against the teak plywood bulkheads (imagine teak plywood today?!)in the V, and could create some deterioration.

Nevertheless, I ignored for too long what was happening in the interior cabin during several years of storage on the hard.

I discovered that over time, either from condensation or small leaks from the main cabin windows, a small amount of water had settled in the un-floorboarded V-section of the cabinetry and had soaked through the wood and made its way into the adjoining floorboarded section of the main cabin.

After opening my nacelle floorboards, I discovered some water in the section between the cabinetry bulkhead face and the amidships bulkhead. I removed nearly full width sections - two feet long in the forward section and about three-feet long in the aft section. I left adequate material on the sides to allow for glassing the cut pieces back into place. I used a mirror and light to exam every inch of the exposed interiors. I found no possible location for ingress of water except at the bulkheads, and perhaps where the teak floorboards were tabbed.Every other location was glassed and I found no "access openings."

I epoxied the exposed wood on the underfloor bulkheads and glassed over the exposed topside teak floorboards. I preferred painting instead of taking care of the teak.

In my boat, no bilge holes allowed water to drain from section-to-section in the nacelle. The original owner of the boat had the boat built under Lloyds' supervision for an A1A rating. So sections of the nacelle and other compartments were "sealed" to add buoyancy. It also helped seal the engine compartment from the interior cabin of the boat.

I might add here, that nacelle bulkheads on some of the Prouts were not well-sealed. Coupled with a flooded engine compartment (bilge pump failure, failed water hose, poor trim/loading, etc.) water could actually flood the cockpit nacelle storage locker. I have seen it happen with my own eyes, and I have spoken with others who have seen it, and read of other reports. A poorly sealed cabin bulkhead could also allow water into the cabin nacelle.

I have pondered adding some small inspection hatches to the two cabin floorboard sections of the nacelle, but I have my hands full with more pressing tasks. The forward section would not offer much meaningful storage, but the aft section would provide an excellent location for an autopilot compass – low, centerline, free from nearby metal and electrical cables.

I hope that this first-hand info might be of help to you.

BTW, another fellow is rebuilding a Prout of a newer vintage and he might also be able to offer up some info too. I marvel at the extent of work he has accomplished and shared in his messages and texts; I'm moving years slower. I can't recall the topic, but I'll retrieve it and post it here.

Regards, Roger

[snort]

We also found a cockpit drain that drained onto the engine instead of overboard.

Unbelievable!
Boat Maintenance
(you may have to "stop" this page from loading as it appears to default to a boat maintenance webring)
Have a look here too: Prout Owners Association • View topic - MOISTURE IN THE SKEGS

[svtrio]

Here is the link sharing Atoll's progress in rebuilding his Prout Elite 37.

http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...ft-103739.html

Roger

[rbrentp]

Thanks for the replies. There is a channel from the engine well to fore of the cockpit through which cabling for steering and and electrical are run. SO water could and probably has come from the well with pump failure. It was also coming in from the wheelhouse but I think I have stopped that. it seems to be clear rain water coming in from under the cockpit. I have also been looking at drains but cannot see how they could leak into the between space. It was that when we had a deluge 6 inches of rain a day for several days I would get a several gallons. Am now down to a quart or two in similar conditions. No leaking from hatches or windows. I hesitate to put the new teak and holly floor. As it is I have the step in platform removable to get to the hand pump.
It has to be the cockpit area.