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Mine was originally that way, but I was chastised by a couple of boating friends. The through-hull itself is 1-1/4, while the whalegusher hose is 1-1/2. Already, I'm constraining flow. If I add the 1 inch hose from the electric bilge pump, I'm driving more water through there than it can handle. Of course, that's not a huge deal....except when both are running at the same time, which will only be during a crisis, which is precisely when I want it to flow as quickly as possible. Hence, the one pump/one through-hull policy.

How about all the cockpit/deck drains? Do other Contessas have four subwaterline through-hulls thanks to that alone?

Seeadler,

I'll keep that pointer in mind. I'm sure I'll need it in the future.

For the time being, I built up the hose section with epoxy plus filler, and clamped it back into place. I'll find a long-term fix later after I've knocked a few more near-term problems off the to-do list.

Thanks all,

A.

Yeah, the chainplates are an issue. Don't think I want to do such major surgery right now. Although, in the case of the Contessa, assuming the bulkhead is sound, doesn't look like it would be too hard just bolt in sturdier ones.

I'll do 3/16 for everything, but try to beef up the forestay. The deck fitting for the forestay is two rather dinky-looking tangs, which go to a crossbolt, which goes through the stemhead fitting. The tang won't accept a 3/8 inch pin, so I'll likely have to replace them. Strangely, a previous owner fit a small bowsprit and anchor roller over the stemhead, so I'll have to take all that off to get to it. More wrenching...

Thanks for the information.

Update:

Glassed over the garboard drain, and replacing everything below the waterline with bronze through-hulls and seacocks.

Thanks for all the comments.

Ian,

The previous owner put hatches in the cockpit sole, which are easily opened. So the seacocks could be reached in a pinch (now, whether one should have loosely-gasketed plastic hatches in the cabin sole is another matter). When I haul it, I'll strategize about where to run the things instead. Hard to picture where they could go in the water.

Stefan, bronze elbows and ball valves is what I had in mind.

As for the bilge plug....I misspoke. It is indeed a garboard plug, not really on the bottom. I have no idea about its integrity. It looks bronze and well-corroded. Probably hasn't been opened in ages. I understand this boat was on the hard for years, and not sailed much. As a result, not much wear, but crates of documents on owner projects over the years...

The twin backstay idea is an interesting thought.

Stefan, that's interesting that heavier rigging (which I would assume stretches or yields less) has to be tightened more to provide the same tension. But perhaps I shouldn't think of steel cable as rope.