Grady White - Safety and Bilge Access

[Capt Armchair]

Hey Guys-

Any of you every worry about impossible it is to get to the bilge in the event of an emergency? I mean, if I had a problem in my Marlin, I have to remove a bunch of screws and cut the caulk.

Wish it was an openable hatch....this concern anyone else?

Don

 

[Fishtales]

You can access alot through the panel under the aft seat. When you remove the smaller panel it does open the area up more, and heck yes I think all of us think this should be a removable panel. Beyond that, there is little access. If something is going on down there, I'm on the radio getting my ditch bag and pulling my epirb. Screw the boat....

 

[Fishtales]

Also, do a search Gman modified his aft panel to make it easier to remove, I think the screws are still needed but no caulk. A little better, but not much more in a real emergency.

 

[no problem]

Fortunately my boat has a little bit better access. I am still going to rig a large bilge pump with alligator clips for the battery connections and a length of large diameter hose. In the event of an emergency clip the leads to the battery drop the submersible pump in the water and start pumping. This may buy enough time to find the source of the water intrusion. After reading about tow companies charging thousands of dollars to borrow a pump like this at the dock and calling it a salvage operation. I think I will make my own which usually means it will never be needed :lol: . And if I loaned it to a fellow boater in an emergency and was able to score a free lunch or some other trivial gratuity I'd be quite happy.

 

[Gman25]

Like Fishtales said I motified my panal and put in a new drain system so most of the water will drain out of a thru hull that I installed. I never liked the way the panal would sit and Grady used small strips of rubber to build it up to make the panel level with the deck. If it wasnt perfect the panel would sweek and creek when stepped on. Now its perfectly level with the deck and not a peep when its stepped on. Screws are not needed and I went one more step by calking the space but only calking the panal side(I used wax paper so it wouldnt stick to the deck side). This way it will deflect most of the water and all of the fish guts and other solids into the deck scuppers. So far it has worked like a charm and im very happy with the result. Next time Im down at the boat I post some pics of the finished project.

I forgot to mention, the panel is now on flush to the deck hinges so now all I have to do is lower the small access panel under the fold down seat and the whole deck panel will hinge up for instant access to the generator or anything else thats down there.

2005 300 Marlin w/F250's