J/30 Class Association Forums J/30 Forum The Boat, Sails and Equipment Strange Hole beside Battery?

Hi to all,

I have the pleasure of driving "Blue Peter" here in Antigua!! I am happy to say that this last weekend we provailed to win our class in the AYC around the Island race, beating our closest competition a Daylor 34 by 3.5 minutes on corrected time!

Unfortunatly durring the race the pockets inside the companion way came adrift. My cell phone fell down a little hole beside the battery holder. We can not seem to find any access to this part of the boat or where it drains to.

I am sure the phone is toast but I would like to get the sim card back, Does anyone have any ideas?

All the best!

Iain

It's been a while since I went fishing down there, but I think I know what you're talking about.

First I'm assuming an older J/30 before they went to the 5 berth / L galley model.

If you take off the companionway steps, you'll see the hull liner, which is a large molded piece of glass that consists of the tracks the front steps sit in, the pan under the engine, the engine mounts, and the sides of the two quarterberths. The liner sets on top of the inside surface of the hull itself.

I'm guessing the phone fell into the quarterberth in the gap between the battery and the engine? If so, it may be under the liner under the engine. Good luck getting it out!

The engine mounts themselves, at least on my boat, have large holes cut on the inboard sides. It may be possible to reach an arm under the engine, in through one of those holes, and into the space between the hull and the liner and poke around for it.

Otherwise, a bent piece of stiff wire is great for fishing stuff out of tight places.

As far as drainage goes... it doesn't! Seriously.... I've had times where I get water down there. (I'm guessing a leaky icebox hose?) The water sloshes around freely under the engine pan, and it can even get to the storage areas underneath each quarterberth if there's enough of it. I can't figure out where it's supposed to drain. Nobody on this board has an answer, and I've tried TPI and Rod Johnstone without success. I don't know if it's supposed to drain somewhere but is clogged, or even if it was designed to have drainage in the first place! As much as I want it fixed, I'm guessing it would take ripping up the floorboards and filler between the bilge and the engine, and that's a bit more than I'm comfortable doing....

Good luck getting your phone back!

Mine has an inspection port cut in the fiberglass flooring ahead of the engine and under the companionway steps. It is finished with a 3" or 4" screw in plate so you can gain access to that part of the bilge.

the plan was for engine oil not to drain into the bilge. but many of the boats have a "inspection " hole in front of the engine that allows the water to drain into the bilge from the engine well.

I'm fine with engine oil staying put. Really, the only water getting into that part of the boat should be from the stuffing box, and that shouldn't be all that much.

But my concern is that the area under the engine liner doesn't drain. Even if I added an inspection hole, what good would it do if the only way to get through the bilge is through solid vermiculite?