Water Ballast
Hi Chuck --
I don't know if this is of interest
to many people on the planet besides you and me and a few crazed
Bolger and Michalak builders -- but I thought I'd show you the
tank plug arrangement I've worked out for Cormorant.
Each ballast tank has two 1.25"
holes drilled in the bottom. (That was a counterintuitive thing
to do!) To make sure I don't lose my plugs inside the tank,
I tied them in with 1/8" Dacron cord -- tough, non-rotting
stuff. I screwed and epoxied one end of that cord to the tank
bottom, and epoxied the knot holding onto the plug handle so
it won't come undone. Each cord is long enough to lift the plug
up out of its top 5" inspection port and lay it on the
tank top while the water drains out, so it doesn't get sucked
back into the hole.
It took a little extra searching
to find the 1.25" plugs, but pi*r^2 told me that a mere
extra 0.25" in diameter would give about 56% greater area
of the hole -- faster fill and drain times.
I've since gotten my ballast
tank tops on, and now I'm working on decking over the cockpit.
Things are really marching along nicely now.
All best,
Garth
