1996 DAUNTLESS 20

A conversation among Whalers
Tim S
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1996 DAUNTLESS 20

Postby Tim S » Thu Aug 31, 2017 10:42 am

[Original article referred to the boat as a VENTURA--jimh]

Anyone have any experience with [a DAUNTLESS 20] boat? I just picked up a 1996 [DAUNTLESS] 20.

[Are there] any nuances to be aware of?

A couple questions:

The previous owner let me know that the fish locker on the starboard side in the deck catches water that flows over the hatch. There is a through-hull with a plug in the locker. Is there a modification to make this a watertight compartment? I wouldn't want to seal it but would like water skis to stay dry when I wash down the boat.

The boat has a dedicated anchor locker forward of the bow seating area. Coming out of the front of the locker is a stainless track obviously for an anchor. I don't understand how an anchor would fit on this track without the flukes of the anchor hitting the bow of the boat. Or, does the anchor just go in the locker and the track is for your anchor rode.?

Thanks for any tips.--Tim

Buoy
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Re: 1996 Ventura 20

Postby Buoy » Mon Sep 04, 2017 7:47 pm

I'm not aware of a 1996 Ventura 20 having been produced, are you referring to the 1998-1999 20' Ventura?

Tim S
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Re: 1996 Ventura 20

Postby Tim S » Fri Sep 29, 2017 2:36 pm

It's a 1996 20-foot Dauntless.

[I am] enjoying the ride but there are a couple weird things with this [DAUNTLESS 20] boat. The storage underneath the [stern quarter] jump seats fills with water if there is any rain. There are plugs in each of these spaces.

Were they intended to hold bait?

Has anyone successfully waterproofed these spaces?

The anchor locker also drains into the bow seating area. If raining the locker collects water from the metal anchor piece that protrude out of the locker and funnels it into the locker.

Are there any solutions regarding modifications to the locker?

Overall none of these [concerns] are a big deal but I would ideally like to keep the anchor line dry as well as the boat dry.

Thanks--Tim

jimh
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Re: 1996 DAUNTLESS 20

Postby jimh » Fri Sep 29, 2017 3:08 pm

For many years with Boston Whaler boats of all kinds, the opening hatches that covered deck access openings were not particularly watertight, did not have gaskets, there was no drip loop surround with a drain, or other means to prevent water on the deck from draining past the hatch cover and into the opening. This also occurs (apparently) with the stern quarter seats on the DAUNTLESS 20 and with its anchor locker hatch, too. One of the notably improvements made in the past ten or 15 years in Boston Whaler boat design was to significantly improve the watertight seal on hatches covering large openings in the deck.

If the compartments under the stern quarter seats have drains and also have plugs in the drains, then it is reasonable to conclude that perhaps some prior owner or user of the boat intended the compartments to hold water and perhaps be used as live bait wells. You can remove the plugs and let the compartments drain--but into what they drain I cannot say.

Usually the anchor locker will drain overboard. If the anchor locker on a DAUNTLESS 20 drains inboard and to the cockpit deck, I suppose there is no simple modification for this. Perhaps you could install an overboard drain by drilling a big hole from the locker, through the hull, and installing a drain pipe. (Is the water accumulation so severe that it is worth such an effort?)

Water draining onto the deck from the anchor locker at the bow ought to flow aft and drain into some cockpit drains or a cockpit sump--I don't know the details of your particular model. Generally the owner's manual gives advice about how to handle cockpit sump drains. The general solution is to choose from:

--keeping the cockpit sump drain to the sea closed and using a sump pump to pump water from the sump to overboard via the pump exhaust hose and its overboard outlet path, or

--keep the cockpit sump drain to the sea open; this will allow some seawater to come into the sump, but the water should only rise a few inches in the sump, and any new water flowing into the sump from the cockpit will just drain overboard. How well this works depends on the particular boat, the distribution of weight on the boat, and where the waterline is when the boat is at rest in its static trim. Generally if the engine transom weight is not excessive, if there is not a lot of gear left on the boat in the stern, and if the boat has not taken on any extra weight in the hull, the static trim should have the boat riding high enough that the water level rise in the sump with the drain open will not be high enough to overflow the sump.

jimh
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Re: 1996 DAUNTLESS 20

Postby jimh » Fri Sep 29, 2017 3:13 pm

You could attempt to improve the seal of some of the hatches by installing your own gasket material. I would presume you would install the gasket material to the opening hatch, and when the hatch was closed the weight of the hatch would slightly compress the gasket material and make a seal that would keep out water.

jimh
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Re: 1996 DAUNTLESS 20

Postby jimh » Fri Sep 29, 2017 3:23 pm

The metal gizmo at the bow sounds like an anchor rode fairlead. Some are big enough to hold the shank of an anchor and then are called an anchor roller. If the anchor is of the appropriate design, if may be possible to stow the anchor in the fairlead or roller. As you mention, a Danforth style anchor with long flukes may not fit in a short fairlead-roller.

ASIDE: My boat (a REVENGE 22 W-T WD) had such an anchor fairlead-roller on its bow pulpit. I found it not very useful. It also was a problem with the fit of the boat to the truck when on the trailer--I could not open the rear door of the Suburban without hitting the darn anchor roller. Taking it off cured that problem. In general I did not find that the rode led through the fairlead particularly well, and it is very common for the rode to end up leading off at an angle to the bow as the boat lies to the wind. So off it came. I have never missed it.

Also, I never liked stowing the anchor on the fairlead-roller, anyways. The anchor is quite large, rather heavy, and it made no sense to me have all the weight hanging out over the bow.

jimh
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Re: 1996 DAUNTLESS 20

Postby jimh » Fri Sep 29, 2017 3:27 pm

How about showing us a nicely framed, clear, picture of the gizmo at the bow?

JTC
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Re: 1996 DAUNTLESS 20

Postby JTC » Tue Oct 10, 2017 9:05 am

I have exactly the same 1996 Dauntless 20 which I use in Cape Cod Bay for waterskiing and tubing.--great boat. A few my neighbors have similar vintages.

To answer a few of your questions:

The stainless steel fairlead at the bow isn't designed to hold the anchor (at least as far as I know).It acts more like a chock for the rode when its out and, when you haul up, it protects the boat from the chain. But as you've probably observed, it's a bit of a pain to deploy the anchor as you have to slide it under the bow rail and then drop it over. However, the triangular cutout inside the locker facing aft is meant to hold the anchor. Put it in shaft first.

Yeah, some rain water will flow through the anchor locker and drain onto the deck. I don't consider this to be a problem, but you may have to clear that drain from time to time. I don't think there's any easy fix for this, but since my boat is in saltwater with no access to fresh, I don't mind my ground tackle being rinsed with rain water periodically.

The aft under-seat storage compartments similarly collect rain water. I leave the drain plugs out. I think these could be sealed off better with some kind of rubber gasket. I think they were intended to hold ice and drinks and smaller fish.

I definitely get some rain water in my ski compartment, but as I recall-- the boat is already stored for the winter--there's a drain port at the very aft that sends water to the bilge. If my memory is right, you can plug that or leave it open as you like. Also, if you open the through-hull drain in that locker, all the water will get sucked out when up on plane. Again, sealing that hatch with some sort of gasket should help the situation.

Hope that helps.

jimh
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Re: 1996 DAUNTLESS 20

Postby jimh » Tue Oct 10, 2017 3:05 pm

Very good first-hand information. Thanks for composing such a thorough reply.

Tim S
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Re: 1996 DAUNTLESS 20

Postby Tim S » Sat Dec 09, 2017 10:48 pm

Thanks for the replies everyone. Very helpful.

JTC--have you played around with engine mounting height in this boat? [The engine is] currently in the deepest mounting setting. I’m debating raising the engine height this summer for better [acceleration from a standing start at full throttle].

We loved our first summer with this boat. Following this forums lead we took her boat camping in the North Channnel the first week of September. Our boat has the camper enclosure which was really nice considering the temps never broke 70, and we had some rain. We launched out of Spanish Marina and had a blast. Glassy conditions for a week, we were able to go anywhere in comfort. What a beautiful spot.

JTC
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Re: 1996 DAUNTLESS 20

Postby JTC » Sun Dec 10, 2017 8:52 pm

Funny you should ask. I'm going to raise my motor by at least one-hole this season, because I get pretty bad torque steer. I'm told that is often an indication that the engine mounting is too low. I also have to keep the engine trimmed down pretty far to prevent porpoising. I never have any trouble with [acceleration from a standing start at full-throttle].