T&T: Cowl vents, water traps and dorade boxes

[Truelove39@aol.com]

Bob-
 
We don't trust self-closing traps, either.
 
We have Vetus cowl vents / water traps on Seahorse (no Dorades). But the  
tiny drain holes are not adequate at all for anything other than a rainstorm. If  
we forget to turn the cowls around (or manually close them) and take green 
water  over the bow they will pass it right into the boat (yes, I forgot-once). 
The  problem is compounded because we have muffin fans mounted under them and 
so we  have to go on deck to close them. Besides which, the soft plastic cowls 
are  now (after 10 years) pretty much toast, and the Nicro paint won't last 
more than  a couple of years. Not only are Vetus replacement cowls ridiculously 
 expensive, but they are, after all, plastic, and we don't like the look of  
them. So, the plan is to equip the Horse similar to the sailboat. On the  
sailboat, we have big Dorade boxes made of 5/4 teak. Each has 12 substantial  (1") 
drain holes around the periphery at deck level. They are fitted with 4" SS  
cowl vents and always face forward and they have never passed water below  
despite saving  been underwater plenty of times. 
 
So, we will keep the Bentley's helm chair rather than buy a Stidd, and  spend 
a couple of BU on decent Dorade boxes and SS cowls.
 
Regards,
 
John
"Seahorse" 
 
 
> Today while continuing on with the repair of my boat, I had to remove  two 
circa 1993 Nicro cowl vents with water traps http://tinyurl.com/yonr8f  from 
the front deck.  They vent the rope locker and head.
While  removing them from the deck, the water traps literally disintegrated 
in my  hands.  These traps are designed to automatically close off water  
intrusion of a large quantity.  Besides being completely blocked with  mud 
daubers....they would have failed miserably.  I did like them  because you 
could manually close them off from inside.

I started  searching for new ones of the same brand thinking maybe..14 years 
was fair  service..I found that they are now either backordered or 
discontinued.   Maybe Marinco/Nicro has removed them from the market for some 
 
reason?

I really wanted to replace them with stainless steel cowls  and some kind of 
water trap or dorade box that would fit where mine were  removed.....no 
luck...lots of ss cowls but only large wooden or fiberglass  dorade boxes 
available.  I wonder why no one makes a ss compact water  trap for the ss 
cowls?

So...I found one Manufacturer (Plastimo) that  makes something that will work 
as a replacement  http://tinyurl.com/2e8dl8   They work about the same as the 
Nicro  with the ability to close them off from the inside.  Looks like they  
have some UV protection and maybe they will last as long as the  others?

Does anyone have any experience with Plastimo cowls w/water  traps?

Note:  The Nicro water trap was the problem. It is rigid pvc  and I'm sure UV 
caused the failure.  The cowls on both are also pvc but  they are soft and 
flexible.  The original cowls were still  pliable.






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