Water draining from Bridge Deck to Cockpit

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Bluewater2

Veteran Member
Joined
Nov 5, 2019
Messages
56
Location
USA
Vessel Name
VAGABOND
Vessel Make
MARINE TRADER 34
The Europa style is good, for us, because the “cocktail deck” (as my wife calls it) extends over both the cockpit and the side decks - so excellent protection from sun and water. However (and why is there always one?), the rain cascades off the bridge deck, from channels on the aft quarters, into the cockpit in the aft corners. Has anyone with a similar style trawler (MT or not) found a seamanlike way to channel this water flow overboard? In the FL summer rains this issue becomes significant….
Grateful for any workable thoughts/ideas/suggestions………
 
Bluewater, as you know, my Clipper 34 did not come with the extended cover to the side decks and cockpit, so I had it added it via alloy tubing and Sunbrella canvas. However, the original aft corners of the cabin top did have drain holes, which just dumped water down onto the lower side deck near where the aft wall of the cabin joined the side deck. At least there it did not deluge into the cockpit itself, but still annoyed me, so I connected white electrical conduit (mainly because cheap and flexible, and looked ok, and not transparent like plastic tubing, which would then eventually show algae growth), to the drains and then ran it down the aft cabin corner, (fixed by cable ties screwed to the wall), and then out across the side deck and out the nearest scupper. Worked well.

Would it be possible to construct a bit of a water collection area, maybe using lengths of square section plastic, glued down and at the joins, at the aft end of the hard-top to sort of guide the water to that point and hold it there..? Then, drill out a hole through the GRP hard top where water collects the deepest, glue a tube of appropriate diameter into that hole so it's flush up top, but protrudes enough below to then fix something like the conduit drain I described, and do the same with that to run the water out the nearest scupper..? That's what I would do. It should be possible to run that conduit/tubing down the stern corner supports to the hard-top via cable ties to keep them out of the way and they would be quite unobtrusive done like that I would think.
 
Thank you Pete. You’ve provided me with some thoughts/ideas for the drainage annoyance for when I put up the replacement Europa struts - two of which are at the aft quarters (one each side). The previous struts were completely rotten…….
 
The Mainship 400s used the aft corner supports for the bridge deck as drains. They project up through the bridge deck with a inlet "screen" on top (more like a shower grate). They project down below the stern storage compartments with hose & overboard through hull discharges. They are rather good looking and you would never know they were dual purpose.
I wish my 34HT incorporated the drains into our supports but they didn't. We have a similar complaint with water spilling onto the gunnel and splashing onto the aft deck. I have added clear vinyl " extensions" to the discharge area of our hardtop to project the discharge further overboard. It works fairly well, clear vinyl hardly visible from a distance and they can flex if they contact anything.
 
Don - thanks. There are a couple of MS 400s in the marina here. Will wander down and take a look…….
 
Bacchus (Don), said..."I wish my 34HT incorporated the drains into our supports but they didn't. We have a similar complaint with water spilling onto the gunnel and splashing onto the aft deck. I have added clear vinyl " extensions" to the discharge area of our hardtop to project the discharge further overboard. It works fairly well..."

Would it be possible for you to do what I suggested to Bluewater2, Don, as you could then run the drain conduit down those aft stern corner struts and overboard like I described to him..?
 
Bacchus (Don), said..."I wish my 34HT incorporated the drains into our supports but they didn't. We have a similar complaint with water spilling onto the gunnel and splashing onto the aft deck. I have added clear vinyl " extensions" to the discharge area of our hardtop to project the discharge further overboard. It works fairly well..."



Would it be possible for you to do what I suggested to Bluewater2, Don, as you could then run the drain conduit down those aft stern corner struts and overboard like I described to him..?

Pete
Maybe. I think it might be as easy to remove the existing round SS pipe supports and put an extention on both ends. The tricky part would be cutting & glassing in the drains in the roof.
I've thought about it but the concept hasn't gotten high enough on the project list to actually do anything about it other than the clear vinyl extensions mentioned above.
 
Pete - I looked at the MS400 upper deck drains. Looks good and probably works well in light to moderate rains. But, looking at the diameter of the downspout and the collection point, I do wonder how they cope with the downpours in the Florida summer (and somewhere like Panama - one of my old cruising grounds).
Don - how you did you attach the clear vinyl to your hardtop?
 
I just use double face tape.
 
Pete - I looked at the MS400 upper deck drains. Looks good and probably works well in light to moderate rains. But, looking at the diameter of the downspout and the collection point, I do wonder how they cope with the downpours in the Florida summer (and somewhere like Panama - one of my old cruising grounds).
Don - how you did you attach the clear vinyl to your hardtop?


The drains on the 400 work really well. As Don said it is one of nice things about the boat. As they are a straight drop, there is a lot of suction on them, mine only overflow if they get partially blocked at the top. For us that is usually caused by dog hair, as everything you wash off of the FB ends up in one of the two scuppers. One of the hazards of having a 90 lb dog on a boat, I guess.


I don't think I've ever seen them overflow from rain as long as I remember to clean them out.
 
Pete
Maybe. I think it might be as easy to remove the existing round SS pipe supports and put an extention on both ends. The tricky part would be cutting & glassing in the drains in the roof....

The drains on the 400 work really well. As Don said it is one of nice things about the boat. As they are a straight drop, there is a lot of suction on them, mine only overflow if they get partially blocked at the top....I don't think I've ever seen them overflow from rain as long as I remember to clean them out.
Ok, so, Don, going by what Doug says, it's a project worth persevering with. How about the possibility of boring down to the tops of the existing SS supports, which are bound to be hollow, then with some ingenuity sealing a channel between the deck and into the top of each support..?

At the base of the support if they are screwed onto GRP, one might be able to get at the underneath of the capping rail and cement in a suitable drain to go overboard, so the water did not end up in the hull - or, just cut a drain into the base of the supports just above where they joint the rail, and cement in there a short spout to take it further outboard..?

Guess you can tell I'm a bit starved of the opportunity to do DIY stuff, as now have no boat - so I godda do it vicariously via suggestions to others who do...sorry... :D
 
I’ve got the same issue on my 41” PT Cheermen Europa. I thought about designing something that attaches underneath to channel the water off the cockpit, but everything I come up with would not be aesthetically pleasing. For me, it’s got to work and look good. So I’m thinking about designing something that’s easily removable. Slide in in when it’s raining and when I leave the boat. I’ll post a picture once it’s completed.
 
Is this representative of the look from your flybridge? Clipped from this video: https://youtu.be/6g4aKaEMH0M?t=342

Without serious changes to the fiberglass, decking and rail stanchions there's not a lot of options. The first thought that occurred to me would be some sort of flexible trim attached with 3M VHB adhesive. Sort of like a rub rail. Stuck along the outside surface as a means to at least channel the water to 'least worst' points. Wouldn't stop a torrential amount of rain but would probably serve to keep random dripping from happening across all of it.

I don't know what the underside looks like but perhaps some sort of soft material could be used as a drip edge flange, accomplishing the same thing, collect small amounts of water and direct them to drip at 'less inconvenient' points.

Has to be some sort of rubber stripping or something out there that could be utilized for this. I'd wonder about various bath/shower wall/floor edge trim products? The trick being finding something that isn't going to fail quickly from UV exposure. Though something inexpensive that got replaced every few years could work too.

Cars/trucks/rvs use 3M VHB tape to attach trim, so it'd be a reasonable option to consider here, provided you found the right kind of trim.
 

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This is my boat. You can see the flybridge doesn’t come far enough back , causing the water to drain into the cockpit.
 
Fly Bridge Water Divertors

I think I’ve attached photos……… I have built water drain diverts on each aft quarter of the upper deck. These successfully divert the rain and wash water outboard of the cockpit. Have also rebuilt the Europa struts and (if the photo upload is successful ?!) then they are shown almost completed. My “rabbit ears” sort of / kinda blend into the visual flow of the boat and after a couple of days are just not noticed.
 

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Good job. They look like what I need. What did you use to make them?
 
Deck Drain Diverters

I used thin ply with epoxy and 3 coats of paint. Then white Gorilla tape. They are attached to the underside of the top deck with a long SS screw, and the “joint” between the underside of the deck and the diverters is sealed with 4200.
They work pretty well and will be extra helpful in the summer rains.
 
Drains - Extra Info

I forgot the mention that the sides of the diverters are plastic angle from Home Depot - covered with the Gorilla tape.
 

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