Randy, you have stumbled onto the major flaw in the construction on the 30-1. There have been many discussions on this site about the mast step. Some owners have filled this low part of the sump with fiberglass, others (me and….) have strengthened or replaced those cross supports. The big flaw is when they built the boat, they did not seal the bottom of those supports, so they have been sucking up any bilge water which gets that high (easy) and rotting. The other issue, as you have found, is the location of the bilge pump down in the low part of the sump. A decent sized one won’t fit. One with a remote switch won’t fit.
So, the first issue is to find a pump which will go down that low. I am using a small Rule pump, directly wired to a switch on the DC panel. That way, I can get almost all the water out. Fortunately I live close to the boat, so can go down there and pump after each rain. I drilled a bunch of holes in the cross members and filled them with G-Flex, and then built the tops up to make them all level. Others have cut them out and replaced them with new and/or fiberglass ones. If you leave them as is, you will eventually have a sinking mast – mine was down about half an inch. Another way to keep that area dry is to get a pump with an inlet hose and which is self-priming. Contact me offline for more discussion, but look through the archives, there have been many discussions. Gary 30-1 #593 gnylan...@atlanticbb.net From: CnC-List [mailto:cnc-list-boun...@cnc-list.com] On Behalf Of Randy Stafford via CnC-List Sent: Monday, April 11, 2016 1:13 PM To: cnc-list@cnc-list.com Cc: randy.staff...@comcast.net Subject: Stus-List Timbers Beneath Mast Step Listers- Since the mast is down on my early (hull #7) 30-1, I removed the mast step to inspect beneath. The aluminum step is screwed onto a heavily sealed wood block ~12"x6"x2", which is in turn screwed onto two short timbers running athwartship which I'm sure are intended to take the load of the mast and transfer it to the hull. Those two timbers have been wet and appear to be a rot risk. The PO fitted a heavily sealed wood wedge down into that lowest part of the bilge between the floor timbers, to further support the block under the mast step. My concern is that the wedge will transfer load from the mast onto the top of the keel instead of to the hull via the floor timbers, and thereby contribute to separation of the lead ballast part of the keel from the fiberglass keel stub i.e. the "C&C smile". Do you think this is a legitimate concern? Any thoughts on how to otherwise reinforce the floor timbers or distribute the mast load to the hull? Also that wedge was sitting in bilge water because the automatic bilge pump float switch is a bit aft and a bit higher. Both the automatic and manual bilge pump intake tubes are down there in that lowest part of the bilge, but the manual pump must be more effective at removing that water because of the float switch location. Thanks in advance for any comments. Cheers, Randy Stafford S/V Grenadine C&C 30-1 #7 Ken Caryl, CO
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