New Ribeye Playtime 550

[AndyDove]

Hi folks,

Just bought one of these ribs second hand and am wondering if anyone can tell me whether it should be a flooding or a dry hull. I put it in for the first time and when I went back to check on it this afternoon there was a lot of water in the cockpit. I've looked her over and can't see anywhere obvious where it can be getting in. The hull has a lot of water which when we sat her upright drained out of a port in the rear but having examined the port it doesn't look like its threaded for a bung. I'm assuming therefore that it should flood. If anyone can confirm this for me I'd be very grateful.

I should add she's in a drying harbour so I was checking her at low tide and therefore unable to see where it was getting in.

Regards
Andy D

[spartacus]

Welcome to the forum.

Don't think Ribeye is anything other than a dry hull. There should be at least two bungs, one at deck level that isn't usually threaded, to allow deck or bilge water to escape which is usually a flexible bung. Another one lower down which will be below deck to allow the hull to drain if necessary. Ribeye use a butterfly bung according to their site.

Here's a link: https://shop.ribeye.co.uk/collections/spares-parts

Get some pictures uploaded so we can see what has been fitted.

[AndyDove]

Thanks for the swift response. Bung ordered and temporary one in place

[PUP]

Andy,

As far as I know, the A500, A550, A600 and S650 have had the same draining arrangements since about 2008 when the hull moulding changed significantly. My knowledge was gained through ownership of a S650 and currently an A600. t took me ages to figure out what was really going on with the drainage on these boats so I thought a would write a detailed description of this aspect of Ribeyes.
But, if your boat doesn't have the integral rear seat (i.e. the seat is part of the overall hull moulding) it is older than the configuration that I'm familiar with and therefore you may be best to ignore the rest of this post!

Bilge ‘System’

Firstly, it is a dry hull with a bilge drain fitted with a winged bung (the "bilge bung" at the bottom of the transom. This drains the bilge compartment in the rearmost and, unsurprisingly, lowest part of the hull. Removing the bung will remove more water than the bilge pump is capable of doing.

Water can get to the bilge from the anchor locker, the rear underseat stowage (i.e the compartment in which the bilge is in) and from the deck bilge drain which is at the aft end of the boat's main deck (just in front of the forward face of the bench seat), in the centre. This normally has a black rubber bung (the deck bilge bung") attached to the adjacent bench seat moulding. Opening this bung will allow water on the deck to drain into the bilge.

As mentioned above, the bilge has a bilge pump to pump any water more than a few cms deep overboard. For day to day operations, including being at anchor, the deck bilge bung should be left out to allow water including rain to drain to the bilge and to be pumped out by the automatic bilge pump.

Deck “Direct” Drains

There are two further holes in the area where the deck meets the rear seat moulding, one on either side, mounted in the face of the seat moulding but low down and semi-recessed into the deck. These are connected directly to 2 drain holes in the rear face of the transom at about water level. These have rubber flap valves to prevent 'backflow' but basically they don't work very well! The deck direct drains are designed to carry any large volumes of water entering the boat (when moving) away from the deck and discharge it directly overboard. With the boat at any significant speed and under power the outlets are uncovered and the boat will be a bit 'nose up' and water can drain quite quickly.

Normally these two direct drains are fitted with over-centre lever type expanding bungs - primarily because if they are not used when the boat is at rest this can lead to various issues. Note that even with them fitted a little water seepage can still occur. They were designed to be removed only for when the boat is underway and there is an expectation of shipping a lot of water (in excess of bilge pump capacity) which would be reasonably extreme weather conditions. Standby for tedious banter regarding Ribeye owners......

The Issues:
If the deck drain bungs are not fitted, depending on the weight of the vessel (fuel, kit, persons) water can flow through the tubes and enter the deck area resulting in a couple of cms of seawater at the aft outer corners of the deck. However the water will be limited by 2 things - firstly whatever happens the boat won't sink of course because as it gets lower the tubes' buoyancy comes into play and an equilibrium is reached. Secondly, if the deck bilge drain is open (bung not fitted) the water will flow down it into the bilge limiting the water depth to no more than 3 or 4 cm. Either way, this can be inconvenient - sod's law says you'll have stuff sitting on the deck getting wet.
The worst aspect of this situation, particularly if the boat is unattended for a long time, is that water may enter through the deck drains and flow into the bilge endlessly. As long as the bilge pump remains working that's not the end of the world but ultimately the battery will give out and the bilge will flood (see later!)

How to use the bilge and deck drains:

Always have the deck drains bungs fitted unless you expect to ship a lot of water (e.g. stuffing in big waves - not likely for most users most of the time). Mine are fitted with cords and attached to the seat/hull moulding so they don't go missing (during a wash or hose down on the trailer).

Always have the deck bilge drain open to drain any small amounts of water (swimmers, toys, rain, spray. Beware that due to the deck's camber, a cm or two of water will gather at the aft outer corners of the deck.

And finally, of course, do make sure your bilge bung is in before launching. If you don't, the whole under-rear-seat stowage will flood to a depth of a couple of feet before the tubes start exercising their buoyancy over the sinking hull. The deck direct drains would also backflow if un-bunged and partially flood the deck (and water-test the sikaflex sealing of the jockey seat pods). The good news is that it is possible to insert the bilge bung by lying on a tube and reaching down to the bottom of the transom to put it in - it doesn't go so deep as to prevent that. Once fitted, copious baling, and use of the bilge pump can save the day!

How do I know that? I think you can guess!

Happy Ribeye-ing!!

Pup

[AndyDove]

Originally Posted by PUP

Andy,

As far as I know, the A500, A550, A600 and S650 have had the same draining arrangements since about 2008 when the hull moulding changed significantly. My knowledge was gained through ownership of a S650 and currently an A600. t took me ages to figure out what was really going on with the drainage on these boats so I thought a would write a detailed description of this aspect of Ribeyes.
But, if your boat doesn't have the integral rear seat (i.e. the seat is part of the overall hull moulding) it is older than the configuration that I'm familiar with and therefore you may be best to ignore the rest of this post!

Bilge ‘System’

Firstly, it is a dry hull with a bilge drain fitted with a winged bung (the "bilge bung" at the bottom of the transom. This drains the bilge compartment in the rearmost and, unsurprisingly, lowest part of the hull. Removing the bung will remove more water than the bilge pump is capable of doing.

Water can get to the bilge from the anchor locker, the rear underseat stowage (i.e the compartment in which the bilge is in) and from the deck bilge drain which is at the aft end of the boat's main deck (just in front of the forward face of the bench seat), in the centre. This normally has a black rubber bung (the deck bilge bung") attached to the adjacent bench seat moulding. Opening this bung will allow water on the deck to drain into the bilge.

As mentioned above, the bilge has a bilge pump to pump any water more than a few cms deep overboard. For day to day operations, including being at anchor, the deck bilge bung should be left out to allow water including rain to drain to the bilge and to be pumped out by the automatic bilge pump.

Deck “Direct” Drains

There are two further holes in the area where the deck meets the rear seat moulding, one on either side, mounted in the face of the seat moulding but low down and semi-recessed into the deck. These are connected directly to 2 drain holes in the rear face of the transom at about water level. These have rubber flap valves to prevent 'backflow' but basically they don't work very well! The deck direct drains are designed to carry any large volumes of water entering the boat (when moving) away from the deck and discharge it directly overboard. With the boat at any significant speed and under power the outlets are uncovered and the boat will be a bit 'nose up' and water can drain quite quickly.

Normally these two direct drains are fitted with over-centre lever type expanding bungs - primarily because if they are not used when the boat is at rest this can lead to various issues. Note that even with them fitted a little water seepage can still occur. They were designed to be removed only for when the boat is underway and there is an expectation of shipping a lot of water (in excess of bilge pump capacity) which would be reasonably extreme weather conditions. Standby for tedious banter regarding Ribeye owners......

The Issues:
If the deck drain bungs are not fitted, depending on the weight of the vessel (fuel, kit, persons) water can flow through the tubes and enter the deck area resulting in a couple of cms of seawater at the aft outer corners of the deck. However the water will be limited by 2 things - firstly whatever happens the boat won't sink of course because as it gets lower the tubes' buoyancy comes into play and an equilibrium is reached. Secondly, if the deck bilge drain is open (bung not fitted) the water will flow down it into the bilge limiting the water depth to no more than 3 or 4 cm. Either way, this can be inconvenient - sod's law says you'll have stuff sitting on the deck getting wet.
The worst aspect of this situation, particularly if the boat is unattended for a long time, is that water may enter through the deck drains and flow into the bilge endlessly. As long as the bilge pump remains working that's not the end of the world but ultimately the battery will give out and the bilge will flood (see later!)

How to use the bilge and deck drains:

Always have the deck drains bungs fitted unless you expect to ship a lot of water (e.g. stuffing in big waves - not likely for most users most of the time). Mine are fitted with cords and attached to the seat/hull moulding so they don't go missing (during a wash or hose down on the trailer).

Always have the deck bilge drain open to drain any small amounts of water (swimmers, toys, rain, spray. Beware that due to the deck's camber, a cm or two of water will gather at the aft outer corners of the deck.

And finally, of course, do make sure your bilge bung is in before launching. If you don't, the whole under-rear-seat stowage will flood to a depth of a couple of feet before the tubes start exercising their buoyancy over the sinking hull. The deck direct drains would also backflow if un-bunged and partially flood the deck (and water-test the sikaflex sealing of the jockey seat pods). The good news is that it is possible to insert the bilge bung by lying on a tube and reaching down to the bottom of the transom to put it in - it doesn't go so deep as to prevent that. Once fitted, copious baling, and use of the bilge pump can save the day!

How do I know that? I think you can guess!

Happy Ribeye-ing!!

Pup

Hi Pup, thanks for the detailed answer. Hope you don’t mind a follow up question. On mine the bilge pump appears to be broken or missing, but I can’t find out how you access the bilge. I tried unbolting the rear bench seat to see if the access was under there but apparently its not. Any advice on how it can be reached would be much appreciated.

Regards
Andy

[PUP]

Andy,

I refer you to the first paragraph of my previous post. Do you know the age of your boat? By the sound of it you have the previous model, as on mine the bilge pump (and associated outlet pipe) really is quite obvious.

Cheers

Pup

[AndyDove]

I believe the boat is from around 2008. It’s a Playtime 550 so the model before the A550. There certainly isn’t any obvious pump but there is a switch for one on the console. The wires lead back under the deck but there doesn’t appear to be any access back there.