Cockpit drains thru bottom of hull?!

[Kayakeur]

My cockpit drains into a two inch hose which leads to a thru hull hole at the very bottom of the hull. I suppose that sucks water out while moving but provides very slow drainage when stopped. A similar boat I had the cockpit drain went out the stern a couple of inches above waterline.
She's on land now on a trailer: I'm strongly considering epoxy glassing over the bottom hole, and drill a new thru-hull above waterline thru stern.
Also both bilge pumps discharge into cockpit & me thinks they ought go out the stern, too.
Venture of Newport 23 swing keel trailer sailer, now on trailer.
Does anyone have any advice? Or comment.

[Don C L]

Cockpit draining through a thru-hull out the bottom is the most common way. No it doesn't drain out quickly but it does drain out. If you have a good way to drain more and faster above the waterline out the stern, that's great, I'd switch to that too. Not all boats can do that and water may tend to pool at the forward end of the cockpit. Before you cut any new holes and glass over the old one, be sure the new one really will drain the cockpit well once she is back in the water. I'm not a big fan of thru-hulls either.
Given that your boat is a trailer sailer, chances are you won't be out in conditions that require lots of cockpit draining, are you?

[coopec43]

Bilge pumps draining into the cockpit is a definite NO! NO!

I don't drain my cockpit through a hole at the very bottom of the hull.Some people have said that is wrong and maybe they are correct? (Just checked and actually David Pascoe backs me up SEE BELOW)

If the center cockpit filled up to the top I have one outlet (Port side) above the seat where water could drain onto the deck. I have X3 draining out of the bottom of the cockpit through the transom and one out of the bottom of the cockpit and through the side of the yacht. (All drains are 1½ in. ID)

NOTE I've just had a look at what David Pascoe (Marine surveyor) has to say about bilge pump outlets and he seems to back up what I have done.




http://www.marinesurvey.com/yacht/bilge_pumps_p3.htm


Just a quick search revealed:


Take a look again at my post. I have deck scuppers that drain below the waterline via seacocks. These always stay open just like my cockpit scupper seacocks.

Here is the requirement from ISAF (International sailing federation):

3.23 Bilge Pumps and Buckets
3.23.1 No bilge pump may discharge into a cockpit unless that cockpit opens aft to the sea.
3.23.2 Bilge pumps shall not be connected to cockpit drains. (OSR 3.09)
3.23.3 Bilge pumps and strum boxes shall be readily accessible for maintenance and for clearing out debris
3.23.4 Unless permanently installed, each bilge pump handle shall be provided with a lanyard or catch or similar device to prevent accidental loss
3.23.5 The following shall be provided:

a) two permanently installed manual bilge pumps, one operable from above, the other from below deck. Each pump shall be operable with all cockpit seats, hatches and companionways shut and shall have permanently installed discharge pipe(s) of sufficient capacity to accommodate simultaneously both pumps

f) two buckets of stout construction each with at least 9 litres (2 UK gallons, 2.4 US gallons) capacity. Each bucket to have a lanyard.

https://forums.sailboatowners.com/th...cation.124545/

[dfelsent]

Many cockpits drain through the bottom of the hull. Look for blockage if it’s slow. Or just maybe small hose and fittings.
Your bilge pumps generally should not discharge into the cockpit.
And definitely should have an anti siphon loop.

[Spot]

It's worth looking at the drain hoses for cracks and obstructions. I had a cockpit to transom drain that seemed to let more water into the boat than it let out. Once the hose was replaced the inside of the boat was much drier.

[SV Siren]

Both cockpit drains on our new to us boat, empty below the water line, and were slower than molasses on a cold day. Inspection revealed two nearly fully blocked drains, and also both thru hulls, which actually had lost their ability to close because the balls were completely gone(53 yrs old). The hoses were also cracked and beginning to leak Needless to say, new hoses and seacocks are being installed while she is on the hard.

[Clivevon]

My centre cockpit drains below waterline too. Not easy to rearrange. After the yard fitted all new seacocks, 1 drain seemed blocked. Investigation found that too liberal use of sealant had blocked the valve completely...

[markcoulter]

One of the unintended consequences of underwater cockpit drain is the thruhulls make excellent homes for shellfish. I’ve seen more than one boat sink from rainwater flooding the hull through the companionway or cockpit lockers due to mussels growing in thruhulls on boats left on moorings over the winter rainy season. Not a problem on Albatross - the drains are gratings in the wing decks, 30” above the waterline.

[sanibel sailor]

The OP's boat is a 23' trailerable, a light and inexpensive one, even at the time. Quoting regulations for offshore racing or what is done on a large cruising boat may not be appropriate.


What you do need to check is that the transom is above water when there are several people in the cockpit and an outboard mounted. You might get back flooding from small waves or wake. the cockpit floor may not be very far above the waterline.

[jmschmidt]

When a wave poops you your cockpit will fill with water with transom drainage.

[JoeRobertJr]

Originally Posted by jmschmidt

When a wave poops you your cockpit will fill with water with transom drainage.

My Catalina 25 has two horizontal drains through the transom, and this has not been an issue. I often wondered if it would be. In my youth, I had a Zuma with a drain below the waterline. At rest, that would allow some water in. It had a plastic flap to limit water ingress. I thought I might want to do the same on my Catalina, but ingress has not been an issue.

My hesitancy with the OP modifying his Venture would be only the effort. Either arrangement should work equally well at removing water.

[ttex]

Wouldn't water drain just as fast below the water line as it would above the water line?

Water wouldn't obstruct water from flowing freely unless there's no more room for the water to expand. Assuming the water draining is above the level of the water it's draining to.

Does that sound right?

[Cheechako]

Originally Posted by Kayakeur

My cockpit drains into a two inch hose which leads to a thru hull hole at the very bottom of the hull. I suppose that sucks water out while moving but provides very slow drainage when stopped. A similar boat I had the cockpit drain went out the stern a couple of inches above waterline.
She's on land now on a trailer: I'm strongly considering epoxy glassing over the bottom hole, and drill a new thru-hull above waterline thru stern.
Also both bilge pumps discharge into cockpit & me thinks they ought go out the stern, too.
Venture of Newport 23 swing keel trailer sailer, now on trailer.
Does anyone have any advice? Or comment.

The thing that effects it is the amount of "head" not where it goes out. If the cockpit floor is near the water line it's very slow. If it's 2 feet up it's not!
I once worked on a power boat. The owner was complaining about his entire cockpit being flooded for hours after a hard rain. It had floor drains/cockpit floor that we figured out were only 1/2-3/4 inch above waterline! The water would take forever to drain out.
We couldn't fix it for him unless we raised the cockpit floor up.

[NorthCoastJoe]

I had a Venture 25 and put a 1 1/2" 90-degree drain in the cockpit floor and straight out the transom with a thru-hull, no problems. Easy job if you have a hole saw. It was more for rainwater and leaves than anything else.

[Cheechako]

My first cruiser I built from hull and deck I put two 3" drains out the transom with flappers, as well as the usual 1.5" floor drains.