cockpit drains into bilge

[cpthook]

Hi there
I have an old Nicholson 31 where everything drains into the
bilge. I have a humungous new electric bilge pump but am
concerned that taking a few green ones into the cockpit could
cause a problem if the pump fails.
Does anyone else have this problem and how do you deal with
it please?

I have considered various waterproof cockpit covers and inserts.
Many thanks
Nick

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[halcyon]

Our cockpit drains to the transom originally via about 1x 33/ 37mm bore pipe. wether they took green water in mid Atlantic I don't know, but they did some test and it took 20 / 30 minutes for the cockpit to drain. Now we have 2 x 4" pipe connecting cockpit top transom.

So your problem may be getting water out of the cockpit.

Brian

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[Peterduck]

Here in southern Australia, on the northern edge of the Roaring Forties, any boat without a bridgedeck and self-draining cockpit is considered as only suitable for sailing on a lake.
Peter.

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[Mirelle]

May not be much of a problem

I've sailed some thousands of miles on boats like that. So have many, many, other people.

The "solution" is to rebuild the whole cockpit, to make it into a self draining one, with a bridge deck, but if you do this you need to think very carefully indeed about ensuring watertightness and ventilation.

This is fairly major surgery; you can gain a quarter berth, or at least get a better one, but you lose cockpit stowage, and engine access becomes problematical. The bridge deck is a good structural feature to add.

MOST of the wooden boats on my river, including mine, that were built with self draining cockpits, have had their original self draining cockpits rebuilt, due to rot problems, whereas those with open cockpits seem to get along fine. The rebuild can of course make use of modern materials and my cockpit is still fine, 15 years after rebuild, but it illustrates the problem!

<hr width=100% size=1>Que scais-je?

 

[Gordonmc]

I had some concerns about bilge draining cockpits when I first saw my Hillyard. The cockpit sole boards are the only things between the bilge and blue sky.
I am coming to terms with the fact a deep protected cockpit is less of a risk than two additional through-hull cockpit drains which were a source of concern on my previous boat.
Following seas have never caused any bother thanks to a canoe stern. The only bind is having to rig up a tonneau cover to keep her from filling with rain.

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[cpthook]

thanks for posts everyone. I don't want to go to the trouble of building anything
solid around the cockpit but may install additional electrical pumps in the cockpit lockers, with holes through into the cockpit. These would drain out via sea cocks in
the hull, just below deck level. I have one such sea cock already connected to a
40A pump but am worried about water filtering back down the hole when heeled
over. Presumably I need a non return valve?

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[roly_voya]

Had a simlar problem on an Atlefolk, the solution I use was to waterproof the cockpit, dosn't need to be 100% just enough to slow the ingress down so the pumps can cope. I then and put to lengths of 4" drainpipe though the transom got a couple of soft rubber balls from the pet shop and threaded them on shock chords attached under the underdeck. A following wave pushes the balls tighter againt the pipes so seals them but water inside forces them open giving fast drainage. This will work even if the sole is below water as you can mount the pipes part way up, don't drain full but stops swamping. This was generally how dingies worked before open transoms (which is wher I got the idea from)

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[Mirelle]

Yes, you surely would; in addition it is good practise to lead the pipe up to the deckhead and back down to the seacock.

Alternatives include using a hose attached to the pump and shoving it over the side when the pump is in use.

<hr width=100% size=1>Que scais-je?