relocating scuppers

[frazier]

just bought one of these V20 boats , its a cuddy cabin with an omc out drive which i will convert to an out board on a bracket , but what a stupid designe for the scuppers they just drain into the bilge! i dont even think the floor is high enough above the water line to run them overboard. Do these boats have enough foam flotation in them to keep from sinking or are they a death trap waiting to sink out from under you in a storm! I see two options with this thing , one is to build a huge sump where the engine used to be and install two large bilge pumps and drain the scuppers into there or raise the floor 5 or 6 inches and do a proper pair of scuppers out the stern. What do you guys think?

[phatdaddy]

what year hull?

i think they raised the deck in the early to mid 80's
depending what motor/bracket combo you use will determine where the deck would need to be to drain overboard.
as far as foam, mine is an 83 and the only foam in it was around the gas tank. some others have foam under the whole deck. i/o's might be different than ob

[frazier]

the hull is a 1982 , all it has is one small bilge pump under the engine with only a half inch hose going overboard

[Destroyer]

Originally Posted by frazier

just bought one of these V20 boats , its a cuddy cabin with an omc out drive which i will convert to an out board on a bracket , but what a stupid designe for the scuppers they just drain into the bilge! i dont even think the floor is high enough above the water line to run them overboard. Do these boats have enough foam flotation in them to keep from sinking or are they a death trap waiting to sink out from under you in a storm! I see two options with this thing , one is to build a huge sump where the engine used to be and install two large bilge pumps and drain the scuppers into there or raise the floor 5 or 6 inches and do a proper pair of scuppers out the stern. What do you guys think?

Relax. The foam that is in these boats meets USCG specs for level flotation, meaning that in the (un)likely event of a sinking it will still float without capsizing. These boats will handle more rough water than just about any other boat in their size range. There's a reason it's the longest running hull design ever produced.

Yes, there are some known issues with the boat, but sinking isn't one of them. The oversized Carolina flare of the bow keeps out most water. In fact, these are exceptionally dry riding hulls. And yes, you will hear from time to time of waves coming over the bow and windshield and drenching everyone, but that's the exception, not the rule. In fact, MJ, the owner of this site, had that happen to him... and no, his boat didn't sink.
As to the bilge pump, most of us here have converted our boats to twin pumps, one in the stern and one in the front. and again, most of us run 1000GPH or bigger pumps. Several of us (myself included), run a 1000 in the front and a 2000 in the stern. If the draining into the bilge bothers you, it's an easy enough job to convert them to drain overboard. Lots of us have done that also.

Summing up, relax, time and time again these boats will get you home when others go down
You're in one of the safest hulls for it's size that's ever been built.

Welcome to the site.

[bradford]

Mine used to drain out the sides, now drain to the splash well. Advantages to each. Having them drain through the rear bulkhead/gunnels vs through the deck will allow an extra couple of inches and facilitate better draining.

Mine never had foam either except what was once around the fuel tank.

Frazier the V-20 is one of the most capable hulls in it's size. Fixing a few weak links and you'll have a VERY safe boat.

[macojoe]

As stated I was hit by a rouge wave that smashed my windshelid and filled the boat to the rim with water!! Stayed floating, and after bailing the water so no water on deck made it to the ramp to drain the rest! one of the safest boats out there!!

[frazier]

Thanks everyone for the positive feedback on this subject , I was a commercial fisherman for over 20 years and when the red small craft flags were flying i still had to go to work, iv'e been in some very rough weather over the years , swells to 20 feet toped with winds to 40 knots etc. ! I sold everything and retired from that profession 8 years ago and bought a house in the mountains. I bought this boat recently because i really do miss the taste of fresh seafood ! and I realize that now we can choose to only go out to sea on good weather days.......LOL

[bradford]

Frazier it's not a bad idea while your updating/changing your deck drains and scuppers to go up in size. I think SSIRedfish did this and his clears the deck super fast.

P.S. Welcome the the Cult!

[frazier]

thanks for the tip , i have the boat in a storage yard 40 miles away that makes it difficult to do anything with it right now but one of the first things id like to measure is the height of the floor in relation to the waterline to see if scuppers will work on this boat. right now it does not have scuppers just cockpit drains that drain into the bilge.

[captaingene]

When I converted my V 20 we raised the deck and put 2 inch scuppers in the transom. Now they drain right out the back deck ... Let me see if I have picture