cruisecraft 685 fishbox drains

[pilchardjones]

Hello all,
A mate of mine has a Cruisecraft 685 that he is having an issue with.
The underfloor insulated cockpit "fishboxes" do not drain.
They have never put a fish in there so it's not blocked up with scales etc.
I think any water that gets in the boxes drops through the plughole straight into an underfloor compartment between the stringers, then it is supposed to drain out onto the bilge - but it doesn't.
They have had quite a few gos at solving - vacuum cleaners, filling with water and driving up/down hills, poking around - but no luck as yet.
They are worried they are carting 100L or so of water around underfloor.
Anyone familiar with the underfloor setup (any pics?) or any ideas on what the problem could be?

Thanks for any help.
steve

[Chimo]

Sounds like a job for Timiboy!

[peterbo3]

Has he contacted Cruisecraft?

[gofishin]

Steve,
At the transom there is a centre bung and two either side, about 500 – 600mm away, outboard of the adjacent stringers. The cockpit u/floor lockers drain into the adjacent stringer compartment, but not into the centre bilge compartment. The lockers are not insulated either, as the void around them has no foam, but all u/floor sections forward of them are filled with foam. As a guess would not hold much water before you would see a ‘tide’ level from within the lockers when the bungs are out (maybe 20 – 30 l).

Will have something to do with CE certification but if I had known prior to my build I would have had limber holes added through the stringers to drain into the centre (pumped) bilge. Somewhere in Ausfish there are photos of my 685 hull before the floor went down, but it wasn’t my thread.

I leave my locker bungs in, and just use a portable bilge pump to pump out and flush etc if I ever need to fill them with fish. Works well and saves all that fresh water going into the u/floor area which can only be drained once the boat is out of the water. Remember, fresh water causes dry rot, salt water does not.[/font]
Cheers
Brendon

[TimiBoy]

It's got me stuffed. Has he tried opening the bungs in the bilge? There is one either side near the transom (way down the bottom of the boat) that drain the side compartments. Maybe they are plumbed in there?

I always kept them open, but I seem to recall the boxes draining direct to the side bungs, rather than into the bilge. Brendon is probably right - has your mate found the outer bungs? If they are not working it sounds very odd, almost like the piping was forgotten?

If all else fails, he should take her direct to the Boys at Cruisecraft. They are damn good value, and happy to help on things like this.

It'll be interesting to see where this goes!

Cheers,

Tim

[wrxhoon]

You got to love the Yanks, they have that one solved too. My kill tanks (Trophy 2002WA) DON'T drain in the bilge , they are bothe plumbed with an in-line pump under each tank. When you want to empty them just push the switch and the blood/water goes out on the side of the boat , no blood , no mess in the bilge .
It wouldn't be hard to do the same with any boat ..

[Heath]

Get him to take it to CC, from my experience they'll only be too happy to sort his issue out, no matter how old the boat.
They have one of the best after sales service reputations in the boating industry.

[pilchardjones]

thanks guys - i'll pass these comments on to my mate and see what he says.
peterbo - yes mate he has spoken to CC and the dealer but not solved yet.

thanks again.
steve

ps - anyone else have comment?

[Heath]

Get him to ask for Kevin Nichols at the factory. Things will move quickly from there.

[pilchardjones]

its all made a bit harder because the boat is not near the factory (its in townsville).
won't say too much here but they are unhappy with the service they are getting ATM. they have contacted the factory but not sorted yet.
i know they are concerned about all this fresh water sloshing around (unable to escape) the stringers in their 120k boat.
steve

[pilchardjones]

have searched here for those underfloor photos you mentioned brendon but can't see to locate?
anyone know where we can find a photo of a 685 underfloor?
steve

[gofishin]

have searched here for those underfloor photos you mentioned brendon but can't see to locate?
anyone know where we can find a photo of a 685 underfloor?
steveActually had some pics on my jump drive. This pick was before they topped the compartments with foam & trimmed.

The factory will happily help your mate I am sure. In the meantime all he has to do is
1. check for 3 black plastic bungs in the transom
2. remove the outer bungs
3. remove the locker bungs. if there is a tide level in the lockers and no water comes out the transom bungs, there is a problem (no limber holes in bulkhead) - but I very very very much doubt it. Otherwise, pour some water in and see if it comes out.

Yes WRX, some yank boats are pretty good, and also have gutters and plumbed gutter drains to keep the u/floor locker contents dry too.
cheers

[GBC]

You got to love the Yanks, they have that one solved too. My kill tanks (Trophy 2002WA) DON'T drain in the bilge , they are bothe plumbed with an in-line pump under each tank. When you want to empty them just push the switch and the blood/water goes out on the side of the boat , no blood , no mess in the bilge .
It wouldn't be hard to do the same with any boat ..


You've gotta love the aussies just a bit more then. My signature kill tank is above water level and drains outboard.....No scales in pumps or blown macerators there. And the whole front deck is guttered and drained.

Getting a bit general in bagging the home grown product there fellas eh?

[wrxhoon]

You've gotta love the aussies just a bit more then. My signature kill tank is above water level and drains outboard.....No scales in pumps or blown macerators there. And the whole front deck is guttered and drained.

Getting a bit general in bagging the home grown product there fellas eh?

I never bagged any Aussie boat, in my lifetime I have owned many boats including a 1950 signature and a 2250 signature both excelent boats ..
Back in the 80's when we had big tariffs in order to protect the local industry if you bought a USA built boat you would be paying twice as much . Thank God those days are behiind us now or we would still be driving Kingswoodswith 40's technology. We still have import duties but only 5% and Zero with a few countries that we have a free trade agreement , USA happens to be one of them.

Sorry if I offended you buddy but that the way it is, the Yanks have a lot more experience making boats and trailers , we follow them many years behind .
Its only a few years ago that Aussie boat builders put live bait tanks in their fishing boats and they still don't have huge fuel tanks .
As for scales in the pumps on blown macerators my Trophy , how do you knw ??
have been in my boat ?? I don't think so ...
Have you ever owned a Trophy???
For your info my 21 foot Trophy doens't get scales in the pumps It hasn't blown a macerator and no blood etc..in the bilge She has 2 large kill tanks , the outlets have S/S grills so no crap will ever go in the pumps.
Whats more she has a self draining deck even when stationary , how many Aussie built 21' boats do you know that have that ??

You see Brunswick marine make and sell more pleasure boats than any manufacturer in the world and by far and because of that they can spend a lot more $$$ in R+D than any company ..

Again apologies if I upset you by posting facts ..

[GBC]

I never bagged any Aussie boat, in my lifetime I have owned many boats including a 1950 signature and a 2250 signature both excelent boats ..
Back in the 80's when we had big tariffs in order to protect the local industry if you bought a USA built boat you would be paying twice as much . Thank God those days are behiind us now or we would still be driving Kingswoodswith 40's technology. We still have import duties but only 5% and Zero with a few countries that we have a free trade agreement , USA happens to be one of them.

Sorry if I offended you buddy but that the way it is, the Yanks have a lot more experience making boats and trailers , we follow them many years behind .
Its only a few years ago that Aussie boat builders put live bait tanks in their fishing boats and they still don't have huge fuel tanks .
As for scales in the pumps on blown macerators my Trophy , how do you knw ??
have been in my boat ?? I don't think so ...
Have you ever owned a Trophy???
For your info my 21 foot Trophy doens't get scales in the pumps It hasn't blown a macerator and no blood etc..in the bilge She has 2 large kill tanks , the outlets have S/S grills so no crap will ever go in the pumps.
Whats more she has a self draining deck even when stationary , how many Aussie built 21' boats do you know that have that ??

You see Brunswick marine make and sell more pleasure boats than any manufacturer in the world and by far and because of that they can spend a lot more $$$ in R+D than any company ..

Again apologies if I upset you by posting facts ..


Buddy, our bluefin waay back in the seventies when we were still in kingswoods had both, and there's been plenty since.

Ya got any more FACTS to use?

Don't get me wrong, I like a lot of yank stuff, but I wasn't the one saying they"ve have got it all over us in the boat building stakes.

[wrxhoon]

B[QUOTE]uddy, our bluefin waay back in the seventies when we were still in kingswoods had both, and there's been plenty since.



Well you stick to your Bluefin, if that suits you then and I'll stick to USA built boats.
I know exacly what suits me best...
I never been in a Bluefin and I doon't know what they are like so I can't offer any advice to the poster on that boat. I can only offer advice on the boats I have experience with and the fact is tha Aussie boat Manufacturers in GENERAL are way behind the USA manufacturers for the reasons I gave above .

Don't try to give advice on a boat you don't know anything about or vever set foot in it ......

Look at it this way , how can a boat builder that builts a handfull of boats compete with one that builds thousands in R+D??

[Far side]

Tim and go fishin are right the 2 kill tanks drain to bungs left and right of the center bung

You should not get dry rot with fresh water in there as all of the stringers are fully glassed and sanded the foam fill is on the outside of the kill tanks as the fuel tank is in the center.
Stick a running hose up the bung hole for the kill tanks it will go in about 5 or 6 meters and flush out

It was my only gripe with CC about the boat but when explained to me the logic made sence
In order to plumb across to the bilge you would need to bend the tubing at right angles if you get any big scales down there it will block up easily

The bilge pump is the go we dont slurry the fish in this box but kill into a bucket then add ice and fish to the kill tank keeping the minimum amount of water in the tank

Timmy couldn't tell you but the tank size is just right for those big fish you need to put somewhere :)

[gofishin]

...Getting a bit general in bagging the home grown product there fellas eh?GBC, if by your ‘plural’ you thought I was bagging the home product by my comment you are mistaken. IMHO, Cruise Craft’s are the best built, best supported, best backed, best ‘everything’ trailerable GRP boats built in this country, and one model in particular ticked all the boxes for me – that’s why I bought one. I looked at all kinds, including some very nice yanky boats that presented a lot of ‘bang-for-buck’, but I kept coming back to the old faithful CC – and I was happy to pay a slight premium for a top quality home grown product.

...You should not get dry rot with fresh water in there as all of the stringers are fully glassed and sanded ...

...you would need to bend the tubing at right angles...
Farside, I was very impressed by the attention to detail that goes into the ‘unseen’ structure, including the quality of the sub-floor timber stringer & bulkhead glassing, plus the sanding and flowcoating of all the surfaces you never see. It’s nice to be able to have your arm up out of sight, bent 6 ways, running a cable behind ‘something’ and not get spiked or cut by some razor glass fibre shards. However, a polyester resin & glass covering layer is still porous to water/moisture, so don’t think a glass cover will prevent rot. I’m interested by your comment about the piping for the locker drain. Mine has none, and drains straight into the hull, which is very close to the underside of the lockers.

Pilchard, has your mate sorted his problem?
cheers

[GBC]

No,
not having a shot at you. I think Cruiseys are well put together also, I had an outsider. I've only one criticism of them and that isn't for this thread.

[pilchardjones]

thanks fellas - and thanks gofishin for that photo.
i'll pass all this info on to my mate and i'm sure he will get it sorted.
steve

[pilchardjones]

just a quick follow up to this.
My mate has now solved the issue.

the drain hole through the timber bulkhead in the compartment the fish box drains into was blocked with foam and fibreglass matt.

they poked up a bit of poly pipe with teeth cut into the end (through the transom bung i think) and sawed through the blockage.

after months of dramas they are glad to have it solved.

steve