by Guest » Sun Jun 01, 2003 7:52 am
Roger, your question sounded like you had a DS I. On the DS II you will have to cut a hole and use an inspection port to reseal it. In answer to your earlier question about flotation in that area, as far as I know there is nothing but air up in that region. From what I've encountered on my boat, all the flotation is in the bow and under the seats. I ran a PVC pipe up under the deck from the inside of the cuddy to the stern to run wires for my NavLights through, and encountered no foam. Actually, the DS II would probably float very well if she had a hole in the hull, even without flotation. Mine had a leak when I bought her, and with the flotation and an intact deck/cockpit and inner liner in the cuddy, she barely sank 4" even with a completely full bilge (I opened one of the cockpit inspection/bailing ports and water flowed out of the bilge into the cockpit.
I really like my DS II, but have to say that there is far too much "wasted" and inaccessible space due to the molded-in cockpit. However, a DS I does not have a lockable cuddy or a "self-bailing" cockpit, so I guess it is a fair trade-off for me.
Rod Johnson, "SUNBIRD" (rjohnson24-at-juno.com)