Solid Cockpit Drains

[gwin]

I was curious if anyone has thought about installing solid cockpit drains in their Ericson, in particular a 32-2. I am told it is a common practice on boats built in NZ.

They could be built using a cardboard tube as a mandral building the fiberglass up to any thickness, say 3/8" thick and installed in place of the current hose and gate valve, a straight shot from the cockpit to the hull. A similar short section of tube could tie the aft cockpit in to the forward cockpit.

Advantages would be that the drains would be as strong or stronger then the surrounding fiberglass and become a structural part of the boat. A second advantage would be no hose or gate valve to fail when one is away from the boat. If they did fail, a wooden bung could plug that hole as if it were a failed seacock.

I would like to hear all opinions, pros and cons.

Thanks much,

Clay

[Loren Beach]

Here in Portland, OR, where the Cascade line of sailboats has been in production over 30 years, quite a number of the Cascade 36 and 42 footers were built this way. Some with drain tubes angled down and back from the cockpit floor -- and some with conventional hoses to thruhull fittings. (Most of these are owner finished.)
About the only caveat I can think of offhand is that a tube into the water can let a lot of water flow either way... like if a big greenie smacks into the transom or side and causes a waterspout into the cockpit. Of course, in conditions like that, a little more water may not be noticeable...
:)

I kinda favor having as many square inches of drain capacity as practical. Some boats going offshore from our YC have added a 2 or 3 inch drain tube straight out the transom, with or without a flap over the outside.

As long as your tube is epoxied in strongly it should be OK.

my .02,
Loren in Portland, OR

[Martin King]

These would work, but the install would have to be done
correctly, particularly the secondary bond where the tube
meets the hull. I've seen factory built rudder tubes crack
off at this point due to inferior glasswork. Incidentally,
if you have gate valves, get rid of them and either go with
the solid tube or ball valves.

Martin
E-31C

[Kimberly Thomas]

I am planning on using 2" Schedule 40 PVC to flapped outlets on the transom just above the waterline. I'm planning on using sections of rubber tube near each end so that flex-fatigue is not an issue. Perhaps just an elbow where the cockpit drain comes down vertically and then needs to turn towards the transom. Perhaps I'll add "hose" to connect the transom-drain hose-barb to the PVC. One might be sufficient per drain. I don't see any particular value to building your own tubes. If you want to, you could glass the PVC in place. Epoxy doesn't adhear easily to PVC, but you wouldn't need a "rock-solid" bond.