Cockpit drain clogged.

[mrkingcasey]

Hello everyone. I just bought my first sailboat, an '84 Macgregor 25. I was doing some cleaning yesterday and noticed that water wasn't draining from the cockpit. I managed to get it flowing a little bit out the hole in the back with a plunger but I don't want to use too much force before I'm sure I'm not going to back up water into the inside of the boat. Does the bilge pump also drain out that back hole? I'm planning on snaking the drain when it arrives tomorrow.

Thanks for any help. Going to get it registered today and will hopefully be on the water next week.

[Be Free]

Welcome to the board and congratulations on your "new" boat!

I've never seen your model Mac but you can probably clear the drain by shooting a garden hose into it from the outside. It's usually easier to get a blockage to move back to where it came from than to force it to keep going in the direction it's already gotten stuck in. Even a plunger is designed to pull a blockage back up the pipe, not to force it to go forward.

Any bilge pump is going to have to be figured out by looking at it. I've never heard of any MacGregor that came with a factory installed pump so you are going to have follow the lines and see how it was installed by a previous owner.

[kingtoros]

Pictures of the boat and Pizza please!

On my There is a tube from the motor well drain to an exit on the transom below the water line. It was also tied in to the galley drain, which was a mistake on my part when disconnecting the drain from the galley... 25 gallons of river water later, I fixed that

On a different type swing keel I had, the cockpit drain was at the forward end and drained into the keel trunk.

That's why a picture is requested... Even if there is no pizza

[Wyb2]

If you have a 25 with the drain at the back that exits a little to the starboard of the rudder, it probably looks like this inside (cockpit floor top, hull bottom in this image).

It should be a straight shot, any water getting inside would be a leak. Mine was leaking as evidenced by the mildew stains running down the foam block.

[Be Free]

Just for my own edification, correct me if I'm missing anything...

The 25 has a cockpit drain in the floor just forward of the transom. It drains straight down into (I hope) a 90 degree fitting that has a smooth plastic hose on it. Based on the position of the hose clamp in your picture the 90 goes a couple of inches horizontally to where the hose connects. The short length of hose has to make another 90 degree turn to a straight through-hull connection in the transom where it is attached with another hose clamp.

Is the 90 degree elbow all one piece or does it have a straight nipple attached to it? Is the fitting at the 90 and/or the through hull barbed or smooth? Does the 90 degree turn in the hose just before the through hull tend to collapse?

Thanks!

[mrkingcasey]

Thanks for the help. I tried running my garden hose through the back hole and now it drains slowly but there's still a blockage. It looks like it drains straight from the cockpit floor to the hole out the back but I'm going to see how the bilge hose is connected before snaking it. The bilge pump looks like it runs to the hole in the back and I dont want to break that fitting.

I'll get inside and get some pictures today or tomorrow when the rain calms down and I can get the tarp off.

[DragonflyMac25]

Congrats on the boat!
I have an 86 Mac 25 and the drain is always getting clogged.
The garden hose from the exit always sorts mine out.

Have been tempted to try to add a strainer or maybe even a bigger drain but have not gotten around to it yet.

Mine spends most of its time at home on the trailer so its easy to do.
Hopefully by the fall it'll spend more time in the water.

[mrkingcasey]

Sorry about taking so long to respond. Thanks for everyone's help. I bought a snake on Amazon and was able to clear the drain. There was a rusty old wire jamming everything up. At least that explains the rust stains on the drain exit.

I got the mast raised for the first time today. Yay! I'm going to get the sails up and figure out the running rigging tomorrow. After that all I have to do is fix the mast light and replace the busted radio. The boat came with two booms that are both a bit different. Hopefully I can figure out all the rigging. Can't wait to be on the water.
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[Be Free]

Thanks for the report. It's important for future readers to document the resolution of the problem.

[OverEasy]

Hi All!

Glad that yer unclogged!
That vinyl tubing with kink sorta looks familiar….

Seems that the penchant MacGregor had for using kinked vinyl tubing goes back before our Mac26X!


We adjusted our engine bowl drain line in our Mac26X somewhat to help it drain better but it still makes a pseudo U water trap.

The factory saved on plastic elbow or two so we can have a debris trap to flush out regularly .
Same with our virtually inaccessible bow anchor locker drain (unless yer double jointed an’ have real skinny arms!)

(The drain lines for the galley sink and head sink that we removed and capped off were in similar condition.)
They must have gotten the tubing on bulk sale early on…

Best Regards,
Over Easy