New Deck & Bilge Pump Drain Manifold

What Jeff and Anne have been doing to s/v Pilgrim is not a re-fit, but for all intents and purposes a complete rebuild of the yacht. Much of their work is too big to include in this blog, but some portions are self-contained and fit well with our format. This is one of them...

The Ted Brewer designed Morgan 382, 383, & 384 series has a unique, and I believe very well designed, system of deck & cockpit drains.  A 4“diameter tube with exits above the water line transverses the beam under the cockpit sole.  From the exterior of the boat it is possible to look through the tube and out the other side.  Morgan owners refer to this drain as the “torpedo tube“.

Two,  2” id cockpit drains feed vertically directly into the tube.  Port and starboard deck scuppers feed into the tube via a manifold located in the engine compartment.   Pilgrim’s manifold was a tired, poorly constructed mess that grew new limbs to address additional plumbing needs.

Pilgrim's dubious drain manifold

A single strategic hack saw cut excised the manifold. 

All the remains is the 2" id tube that feeds directly into the "torpedo tube".

Armed with a sketch of my vision for a new manifold, I headed into the hardware store.  Amazingly the Beaufort Ace Hardware had everything I needed to fabricate the new manifold.

Dry fitting the new manifold.

The primary body of the manifold is 2” id schedule 40 PVC.  The 1 ¼” id deck drain hoses attach at either end.  The manifold also includes a ¾” id inlet for the small volume, primary bilge pump and a 1 ½” id inlet for the manual bilge pump.

To decrease the likelihood of down flooding and to maximize space in the engine compartment I elevated the new manifold 4” above the torpedo tube.

The new manifold is elevated 4" above the torpedo tube and supported to two eye straps 

No bilge pumps are currently installed in Pilgrim – stay tuned  - so  temporary plugs are currently screwed into those inlets.

Bilge pump inlets are temporarily plugged.

We plan to reroute and replace the deck scupper hoses, but at present the existing deck scupper drain lines are feeding the new manifold.

Future projects will include replacing and rerouting the deck drain hoses.