Drownproofing Your J/24
As you probably know, the J/24 is not currently delivered with enough built-in flotation to keep the boat from sinking if it fills up with water. We have lost a few boats over the years, perhaps most recently at the 2005 US Nationals in Seattle, WA. I was at that regatta when “Magic Hat” went down. We also took a knockdown on a downwind leg when our spinnaker pole folded up, the chute oscillated and the boat was on its side in a heartbeat. Water was only about 2 inches from coming in the companionway. I was able to pull the slide back, but the hatchboard was stowed below. Fortunately, the boat did not roll any further, and we were able to get it back on its bottom fairly quickly. Often when a boat rolls further and water pours in the companionway, even if it goes 360, it will come back up. Then it will sink quickly once the trapped air bubble comes out of the companionway. One good suggestion that came from J-Boats is to pin your hatchboard in place whenever it is windy enough to use the blade. Then all you have to do is pull the slide back to keep most of the water out of the hull…short term…assuming someone can get to the companionway slide.
A couple of years ago, I wrote an article about modernizing your V-berth to add about 325 kg. of floatation in the bow. That article should be available on the IJCA web site. The boat weighs 1375 kg. minimum, all up, so that leaves us 1050kg. short of floating the boat. We gain some flotation from the balsa core in the hull and deck, but the real opportunity is about 1160 kg. of floatation to be gained by sealing up the lazarettes. I know one member of the 360 degree club, Stuart Jardine, that glassed in his lazarettes years ago and believes that it helped him survive the full capsize. They were able to bail the boat and go home. I took the hinges off my lazarette hatches and screwed them down with three screws several years ago because I was tired of tearing my pants on the hinges and tired of people putting things in there that just got forgotten.
Never being able to get the kind of access to the lazarette spaces that you get from the hatches bothers me because I don’t want to have to crawl all the way to the transom through a small access port to do any fiberglass repairs in case of a hole or to repair or replace the motor mount or rudder gudgeons on the transom. I really don’t like dark sweaty places with stale, musty air. I propose just sealing the lazarette hatches with caulk and screwing them down so they could be removed if necessary without damage, like the seahood over the cabin top. You will need some access from the inside to check for water.
The access can be a reach-in through a sealed inspection port all the way up to a port through which a person of smaller stature could actually enter the lazarette. There is a great deal of difference among ports in size, degree of sealing, material, weight and price. I would recommend no less than an eight inch (200mm) diameter, sealed, plastic, inspection port. These are available from many marine sources for less than $30 US each and will add next to nothing to the weight of the boat. A large selection of larger, rectangular hatches is available from Bomar at www.Pompanette.com. These hatches can also be purchased from Coastal Marine 800-262-1889. Check price from each. Coastal was actually less expensive for my selection, and both companies were very pleasant to deal with. The larger plastic access ports, although they have seals, are not guaranteed leakproof. You have to go up to the cast aluminum ports to get leakproof, and that is a considerable jump in cost and weight. I wanted better access and was thinking leakproof was why I was doing the job, so I went for the cast aluminum. In hindsight, I believe the sealed plastic ports would be adequate even thought they are only water resistant. They should give you the time you need to get the boat back up and bailed. If they blow out when the boat is three meters under water, it was lost anyway.
This article is aimed at the large number of boats that have lazarette hatches in the cockpit. Boats that were manufactured without these hatches usually have open access to the lazarette area from the inside. The boats with open access may want to consider air bag floatation. Older TPI boats that have both hatches on the outside and open access from the inside, should at least seal up the outside hatches.
It is best to eliminate the hinges on the outside hatches and fill in the pockets in the deck that accommodate the hinges to allow a complete seal. Obviously fill the bolt holes from the hinges in the deck and the hatch. Next you should fill in the drainage gutter exits that come down each side of the hatches in the area you wish to seal off – in line with the bottom of the hatch. G10 epoxy board may be cut to fit and epoxied in to fill this space. When the epoxy is cured drill a weep hole into the gutter just above the G10 baffle you installed. Make sure the areas to be sealed are clean and dry, and sand the surfaces with 80 grit to improve adhesion. Screw or bolt the hatch down to the deck for fit without sealant, then remove.
Install the inside access port before sealing the outside hatches. On most of the TPI boats, the inside liner did not come up to meet the underside of the deck. An additional piece was added to accomplish this, so there is about a quarter of an inch offset between the two. If your access port crosses this joint, you will have to add a quarter inch spacer around the upper section. I suggest making a template to trace or transfer for anything other than a round port. Doing layout work on this uneven, vertical surface, in restricted space, while supporting oneself on ones elbows, is nearly impossible. Cut a hole in the bulkhead, prep the opening and install your access ports per manufacturer’s specifications or common sense, which ever is available and appropriate.
Cleanup your dust and debris, tape around the outside hatch and install with silicone caulk and screws. Silicone caulk seals well and is removable. You can also get a paintable silicone caulk if you wish to entirely fill the gap and paint it to match the deck (my preference).
While nobody, including me, will guarantee this will make your boat unsinkable (we got over that guarantee with the Titanic), it should at least buy you time and give you a much better chance to save your boat. After doing this job, you should get your boat reweighed by your local measurer – especially if you use the cast aluminum hatches. Above all, try to stay upright – it’s faster!
Tim Winger
Beth fits easily through the large, cast aluminum, access ports I used.
G10 epoxy board baffles installed in drainage gutter exits. Note location of weep hole above the baffle.
Finished, open access port from the quarter berth inside.
Finished, closed access port from the quarter berth inside.
Prepped lazarette, ready to be sealed.
