Drain and bilge holes A25

[ssrig]

Here's the drain holes and bilge holes that I have found on my Albin 25 Deluxe!

From aft forward.


Rudder tub.

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Aft cabin centre well that extends under the cockpit sole.

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Inside view of the bilge drain.

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These two are on the starboard side of the engine at the main cabin bulkhead. Why 2 ??

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Port side between engine and fuel tank at the main bulkhead. One only....

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Hole under the engine pan from the hatch in front of the head door looking aft.

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I think I will use a wire to push through some of these holes to determine where they come and go, particularly the two next to the engine starboard side.

[WillieC]

Perfect! I concur with your findings to a tee. Let me know if you figure out the starboard side holes that should drain something in the area of the head. A while back I found trapped water under the head sole but couldn't make it drain anywhere, so I am planning on not letting any water in there. I tried wire jamming but did not have good access without removing my battery box. I don't recall getting either one open.The port side is easily found and is easy to clear. Not so much on the starboard side. Good luck!

[ssrig]

I thought that the farthest starboard hole might have came from the head, there is a tub like area under the plywood toilet shelf but I felt around under there and couldn't feel anything, so that one has me stumped.

I also couldn't see where the one under the engine pan comes from? Maybe the other three next to the engine join up?

And now that I zoom in I see they are all clogged with dirt.

[kerrye]

Can you explain pictures 4&5 some more. I don’t understand where they are. I haven’t noticed them on my deluxe

[ssrig]

4 and 5 are located next to the engine pan and would drain the area where most have their batteries on the starboard side and on the port side fuel tank location. Both are located on the fibreglass bulkhead that extends up from the hull to form into the bulkhead between the cockpit and forward cabin. The holes flow towards the front.
Clear as mud.

[kerrye]

So if I looked up from the aft bilge access in the front cabin towards the stern should see them on either side? I've been under the impressions both those areas hold water (or diesel) and don't drain but maybe I have those drains and they're plugged. Where are they located by comparison with the central bilge pipe which connects bow and stern drains down in the keel?

[WillieC]

These holes are on either side of the engine box, down low obviously, in the same bulkhead where the tube runs under the engine pan draining the fore bilge area. ssrigs pictures are looking forward. In the port pic, the shiny object to the left is the fuel tank, not immediately clear if you get turned around. The port pic is right under the helm, also looking forward, way down low. My batts sit there so I am guessing his batts are elsewhere or have been removed to access that low point. Both of these sets of holes are just outside of the lower portion of the engine box. They do in fact drain forward, as ssrig notes, but that depends on the attitude of the boat, as they are fairly level. As I noted, my port side hole, by the fuel tank, was clear. Easy to stick a wire or plastic tube well forward until you find it under the galley floor access panel. The right side still in question, at least on the WillieC.
Just a thought...maybe the far right hole was to drain the area under the head sole, thus it would have to flow aft, not forward. Mine appears to have been intentionally plugged. And I have the trapped water under the head sole complete with hidden tuna cans and attendant foul stench! See: viewtopic.php?f=28&t=10908
ssrig, keep poking until you solve this mystery!

[ssrig]

Nope, they are located in the cockpit area, so if you were looking forward from just behind your engine they should be either side of engine pan marked in red.

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[kerrye]

OK so to the left in the photo of the port side is the fuel tank? If so, then my boat is quite different since the fuel tank comes right up to the edge of the 'wall' which forms the port side of the engine box and upon the top of which sits the removable engine box. I cannot see the right forward corner of the compartment which holds the fuel tank due to this.
However, if that hole is there, it explains something. This past summer an irresponsible teenager filled my fuel tank and overflowed it onto the side deck and didn't bother to clean it up immediately. A lot of diesel got down into the boat and finally made it into the forward bilge. I concluded it had been sitting under the fuel tank and somehow migrated from there into the forward bilge. If there is a drain hole in that compartment it would explain how it was able to migrate in that direction. When looking aft on the port side of the hull thru the aft forward cabin bile access I could see evidence of it running down the hull and into the bilge but never saw that pipe connecting the two compartments. I will have to look closer next year when I'm back at my boat.

[kerrye]

Thanks for the photo. My batteries are on the starboard side so make seeing that hole difficult.

[ssrig]

I think you got it, that is the fuel tank, I thought that the fuel tanks aren't really anchored down but are kept in place by surrounding wood so maybe mine is moved to port or yours has slid down? I have about 2-3" between the engine coaming to the fuel tank. Makes sense how that diesel made its way forward to the forward bilge area.

[ssrig]

Well I went down to the boat with a fish wire to see whats what! The two holes in the battery compartment area on the starboard side go through to the void just inside the main cabin under the cabin sole.
The furthest starboard goes more in a direct line towards the bow, the fish wire ended up all the way under the head sole right to where most have the raw water intake for the head in the hanging locker. The other one was directed aft and downward immediately but just ends up at the very aft end of the forward cabin where the coaming for the engine is.
The port side fuel tank drain does a similar aft and immediately downward path and I could reach it under the most aft forward bilge access reaching to port.

This image is of the aft end of the pipe linking the forward and aft bilges.

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I have a feeling that the furthest starboard hole might have been to drain the small area under the head, my boat has that little tub where the thru hull is located and it has no drain so will fill up, is this the tuna storage site?

[WillieC]

I found the pinholed tuna cans under the head sole, just aft of the hanging closet. The window was leaking and the water ran down the head wall and snuck under the head sole and filled that area without draining. I vacuumed it all out and sopped it up with rags and looked high and low for a drain. I think you have hit upon it and I need to try harder. Yuck! Earlier models, like dkirsops, aren't quite that enclosed so they drain straight out toward the center line, if I have that correct.

[ssrig]

I think that the far right starboard hole is a drain for that area you are keeping your tuna in! It makes sense as that is where my wire fish ended up, right where the missing triangle piece on your boat is.

These holes are pretty small diameter, 3/8" ID and mine were clogged and I suspect most others are also blocked or their path obstructed by newer construction like more batts or....?
Maybe its one of those things to put on the yearly maintenance list.

[WillieC]

Well that answers that! I will definitely haul the battery box out this winter, maybe this week and make sure that drain is clear. Thanks for your persistence!
On the port side, where the drain is for the fuel tank area, one can easily reach under from the galley access hole and find the forward end of that 3/8" tube. The starboard side requires one to reach clear from the hanging closet, under the head sole all the way aft to the bulkhead. I almost got stuck attempting that Houdini maneuver. That's where I gave up. I already had two cans of tuna for lunch, no need to get greedy.
Thanks again!