F39 PH deck drainage?

[rbpfyo]

new-to-me Freedom 39 Pilothouse Schooner (Deck Salon)

2 questions:

- the little scuppers on deck (one each side) seem very small to me
what's up with that?
maybe a 1" or 1-1/4" hole to drain the entire side deck
and the toerails are beefy! (lot of aluminum to get over)
every time I wash the deck, water gets stuck endlessly waiting to drain
has anyone enlarged these?
I don't understand the theory here

- related question:
leaks into the aft berth
might these be related to tiny scuppers up top?
I dimly remember reading that this is a know issue
what's the fix?

on my boat, there are 4 drill holes around the scupper drain
is there supposed to be some kind of fitting over that?

oh, one more Q:
up front, at the bow, just port of the forward mast, there is about a 3" hole through the deck into the chain locker with a metal dome thing on top and a hook sticking down through the hole
but the balsa core is exposed on the edge of the hole cut, so clearly not a factory installation
any guess what that is?

happy to upload pics if I can figure out how...

[folotp]

Hi,

The deck scuppers are really small, plus on mine they won't drain the deck completely; the slope of the deck doesn't divert all the water to the drains. I always end-up with a puddle on each side that won't drain. I'm planning on installing new drains in the deck itself that drain to a through-hull via a hose, but I haven't gotten to that yet.

I've had leaks in the aft cabin, but they weren't caused by the deck scuppers.They were caused by water leaking through cracks in the companionway stairs, where the steps meets the risers. I've caulked all of them with silicone and no leak since.

Lastly, the hole in the deck that you describe forward of the mast is an hawsepipe for the secondary anchor rode. I have one on mine too. Don't know if it's original.

Cheers.

[rbpfyo]

thanks, Pierre! great info

(but *why* did they design it this way? I'm so confused
a robust, ocean-going boat, with tiny little drainage?
one wave, and the deck is permanently awash
mysterious!)

[gcantori]

Exact same issues with the hawspipe and deck drainage on my '84 PH39. The excess water simply sloshes through the toerail holes. At anchor or dock puddles do indeed sit there. Sponge for now, Would love to see if anyone adds a second deck drain!

[rbpfyo]

mystified by the design choice (?!)
but clearly it's a 'thing' which we need to fix ourselves

my thought would be to cut under the toerail in 3 (?) locations on each side
(I wouldn't want any more through hulls)
if I did the glasswork carefully and strongly, should not compromise the hull-to-deck seam , nor get into the balsa (although would welcome second opinions on that)

another thought would just be to simply cut back the aft woodwork where the toerail meets the cockpit coaming, let water escape there

but the deck needs to drain! (holy cow?!)

[folotp]

In my case, cutting an opening under the toerail wouldn't help because that's not where the water accumulates at anchor or dock. It accumulates against the coamings, close to the existing under the toerail drains. This is why I thought of installing a flush deck drain at the lowest spot on deck, connected to a hose that drains to a through hull just below deck-level. Underway, it's not a problem because with heel, water drains easily over the toerail.

[monroe]

We have the same problem with our 39DS #27. It looks to us like the cabin top might have settled, thus causing water to puddle next to the cabin sides. When docked, moored, or anchored I mop up dew/rain almost daily.

Doug Monroe
s/v Spartan

[rvivian]

Maybe something along these lines would work:

"One better: lay a length (two feet?) of line (3/8 or so) in the low spot and hang about a foot of it through one of the toe rail holes and over the side. It will wick the water out even better than a sponge.

"Cram a small sponge through the toerail where the water pools, it will wick it overboard pretty quickly and you won't be drilling a bunch more holes in your boat. "

from a thread on the CNC-List

[PH39]

As per the attached, the PH-39 had some kind of factory retrofit under warranty which put in a pair of additional deck drains, 1 per side, at the low point of the deck draining down a hose to a throughull above the waterline... please see 5pp of details.

[monroe]

Thanks PH39, looks like this was a known problem. Glad to know it wasn't the cabin settling, couldn't really see how it could be other than the lack of drainage.
I'm reluctant to drill any holes, so I'll continue with the mop, and sailing to dryer places

Doug
s/v Spartan
currently Newport Beach, CA