Thanks Peter, yeah I think I may have been overthinking the drainage
earlier. Re-reading the groco manual really does suggest to me that
they're referring to leaving it in the water during a freeze. I'll play
with the drains and see if there's anything that comes out in any case
but yeah I'm thinking these should be fine almost as is.

Cheers,

-CB

On Oct 15, 10:01 pm, Peter Bennett wrote:
On 15 Oct 2006 16:27:09 -0700, "CB" wrote:



ok so last spring I installed some nice bronze groco seacocks as
valves for my forward draining cockpit - the drains go down through
thru-hulls under the waterline.

i'm about to haul the boat for the winter, and yes, it will freeze.
so. groco recommends that i drain the body of the seacock by removing
the side plugs, etc etc. no problem.I suspect (but without any direct knowledge) that these drains are
intended to remove any water _above_ the actual valve - if you left
the boat in the water with the seacocks closed, they would allow you
to drain the hoses and other spaces above the valve.



but. these are cockpit drains, and the cockpit drains forward (ranger
26, 1971). the drains need to be active over the winter (example: i get
snow in the cockpit, whatever, my tarp fails), and then it warms up one
day. cockpit needs to drain down and out, or i flood the interior (only
about six inches before i overflow into the cabin).You will, then, want to leave the seacocks open, so any water entering
the cockpit can drain out through them, onto the ground. In that
case, I don't see any reason to play with the seacock drain provision
- with the seacock open, any water above it will drain when the boat
is hauled.



so. I can drain the seacocks, but then i need to replug them so the
drains function "normally" over the winter, should there be a need.
but. water will get into the body and if it refreezes then i'm in
trouble.

does anyone have any comments or treatment suggestions on how i can
win on both sides here?disclaimer: here in the Pacific Northwet, we don't haul our boats out
for the winter, and the water rarely turns hard, so we don't generally
have to deal with this. However, if you left the boat in the water,
_and_ freezing temperatures were likely, then you may want to close
the seacocks and drain the hoses (but probably only for engine cooling
water and head intakes and sink and head drains - definitely not for
cockpit drains)



thanks,

-CB--
Peter Bennett, VE7CEI
peterbb4 (at) interchange.ubc.ca
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