Hello, all i have a Nacra 5.0 have not had in the h20 since bought but i do have a question. Since the 5.0 has skegged hulls and the drain plugs are up so high do you really have to lift the front of the hulls all the way up to drain when you get water in them. 2nd question hulls don't have hatch covers would it be recommended to put one on each hull and use those to sponge out or hand pump bilge out since the drain plugs are where they are and where would you put the covers behind the front crossbar or in front. Thanks Brad.
Edited by brjonair on Mar 22, 2011 - 08:00 PM.
DO NOT put in inspection ports for the sake of draining it.
Yes you have to lift the bows to dump the water out of the drains. It's not an issue at all, though, don't worry about it.
If you trailer your 5.0 to the beach like I do, try this. Once it's on the trailer and strapped down, pull the drain plugs and lift the trailer tongue. With the axle as a pivot and the added height of the trailer you can completely drain the hulls with ease. Plus, you're not putting any weight on the rudders.
Or just leave the plugs out and drive up a really steep hill 😉 I usually have to trailer through the mountains a bit so I leave my plugs out all the way home so any sloshing or uphill driving helps get any out. But since I silicone the Jib Block bridles I have not really had any water to worry about.
Agreed, it isn't a big deal to lift the bows and drain the little water that collects. Unless you are storing the boat in the water (generally a bad idea for the gell coat) you should't be getting more than a gallon during a day of sailing. Any more and you probably have some sealing to do. Don't put ports in until you have a need for them.
My 5.7 has to be tilted quite ways up to drain the hulls. I do not have any ports, they would be handy for storing junk, & sponging water out, but I'm to lazy to put them in. They would have to be in front of the rear beam. If you look at the bottom of your hulls, you will see the low point of the hull is quite ways from the rear plug.
Be careful tipping the boat up with the rudders installed, it would be easy to break them. I used to slide mine over the breakwall,(2-3 feet high), then lift the bows up.
Now I use one of those little suction pumps designed to pump oil out of inboard engines. I rigged up some plastic tubing that will go through the drain hole. I store the cat on a seadoo lift, it is easy to slide the tubing through the drain hole to the lowest point of hull, then a few strokes of the pump draws any water out. It won't completely drain the hull, but I don't race, so don't care about every last ounce of weight.