reconfiguring aft cockpit drains

[admirals barge]

74 eric 35 II
has anybody reconfigured the rear cockpit drains so they don't go all the way forward to tee into the forward cockpit drains? am thinking about adding a thru hull and teeing the aft cockpit drains and eliminating the run to the front drains. this would convert the 3 inputs to the strbd forward drain to 2 inputs.

happy boating
greg

 

[chrism]

I haven't done it, but remember... The less through hulls, the better

 

[admirals barge]

thru hulls

chris

that is a true statement. presently there are 8 thru hulls in the boat. 6 are under water and 2 are below the trnasom. the aft cockpit drains run about 9 feet to the thru hulls on each side. it would be nice to eliminate those 2 9 foot runs of 1 1/4 in heavy duty hose. the forward cockpit drains tee with the aft drains at the thru hull. the strbd side has 3 inputs to the thru hull. would like to make that 2 inputs. less cluter on the hull and at the thru hulls. that's why i was wondering if anybody has reconfigured the drains.


thanks
greg

74 e35 II

 

[Seth]

Drainage

Well, it adds 2 new holes, but I would enlarge the cockpit scupper, enlarge the hose diameter to match, and then make the shortest run to a point you can identify as lower than the cockpit floor. Especially if these are aft, you will have a much safer, faster draining 'pit (there will be some suction created by the boat speed as well-which will speed things up-if you are moving).

This ability to drain fast is MUCH more important than keeping through-hulls to a minimum-not even an argument, really. If you sail offshore much you should take a hard look at this.
Safe travels,
S

 

[Masallah 04]

reconfiguring aft cockpit

Seth:
Good advice, and a concern I have as well. Let me know what you end up doing. I will be taking my boat offshore often, and high on my list of reconfigurations is how the cockpit sheds water.
thanks
Alan

 

[Seth]

Drainage

No problem Alan, but I'm not sure what you are referring to when you say to "let you know what I end up doing"-I'm just an ex-Ericson factory guy who is here to offer what little help I can to the Ericson owners-I don't own a boat (but luckily I have access to a few), but I am fairly familiar with many details of most E-models. Let me know if I can help further!

Fair winds,
S

 

[gareth harris]

Does anyone know a source for 2" cockpit drains? I am in the process of rebuilding the system, based on Seth's advice, and they are the only missing pieces.

As far as the aft drains goes, I think they can be drained above the water line close to the stern, where an extra through hull would only see wave action, but I have not drilled the holes yet.

Greg - another recommendation I have been given, is to cross the drain hoses i.e. port scupper to starboard through hull and vice versa, the idea being that in the event of a knock down, and the cockpit scupper being below the waterline, it will not be filled from the through hull below the water line.

Gareth
Freyja E35 #242 1972

 

[Seth]

draining

The location you describe is ideal, and crossing them is also common practice.
I would think West Marine or similar would have the 2" hardware.
S

 

[chaco]

Cockpit Drain Vent

Greg

I would not recommend Teeing the (2) aft drains.
They are designed so that when the boat is heeled one drain acts as a vent
for the leeward drain under water. Without the vent draining is slowed.
As for going out the stern above waterline.....I don't think there is enough fall
for efficient drainage. I have always been conscerned about the under water
thruhull drainage of the cockpit cause I have to leave the valves open when
unattended.....alas I replaced all the old rubber hoses with HD Waste Hose
and rebedded the drains. No leaks....no worries !

Good Luck

Dan
S/V Merlin
74 35II
Oceanside, CA

 

[gareth harris]

An update:

Perko make a 2" flush bronze through hull, which makes a suitable drain in the deck as well as through hull. To drain the aft pit, the new through hulls will have to be close to the edge of the rudder arc, and crossing them will be essential as it looks like the drain goes below the water line at about 25 deg of heel. I am waiting for the through hulls, and to remeasure and recheck my sanity, before drilling.

I do not think it realistic to drain the forward deck there, as there is not enough vertical drop for the distance of hose to get fast drainage.

Since the pit is open to the atmosphere, I can not see where a vent comes into play?

Gareth
Freyja E35 #241 1972

 

[adam]

I'm also considering re-routing my aft drains so that they drain above the waterline.

Who has has made this change?

Are you happy with it?

Any lessons learned?

 

[steven]

Adam,

I have measured at least a dozen times to see if there is enough fall to drain above the waterline at the stern.
seems pretty close (especially when heeled) - might work with rigid pipe suitably mounted instead of hose (which will sag)

Might be is enough drop to exit in the bottom of overhang. My Whale hand pump exits there.
Maybe with a check valve just above a seacock ?

So I too am interested in any experience, or ideas.

In any case I'm going to try something this spring when I overhaul.

--Steve

 

[garryh]

This is a very timely discussion because I am planning to modify the cockpit drainage on my new to me 35-2 this Spring. The two large drains under the cockpit are the original gate valves which have to go and they are both giant octopuses of fittings and tees; and it just seems dumb to bring the rear drains all the way forward with long runs of hose that are in the way and take up space. My other and main concern is having to leave seacocks open when I am away from the boat. I was just going to take all the drains back to the transom before reading this but now have to rethink it a bit.
Water in the cockpit can come from two sources, rain water and lake/sea water. This boat will likely never go ‘offshore’ but out in the middle of the Great lakes it can kick up pretty fiercely at times and I think it must be prudent to plan for draining a boarding wave. Also, rain water can happen anytime and there needs to be a continual drain for it. Let me throw out my newly revised plan for comments:
-as above, drain the rear cockpit via crossed hoses out the stern above the waterline
-take the front drains down to the (to be replaced) main drains with minimum 1.5” hose but install a tee just below cockpit sole and take hoses or rigid pipes back to stern drains (either dedicated or possibly tee’d into the rear cockpit drains)
This arrangement would allow the main drain seacocks to be closes when away from boat, allow for quick draining when underway, and allow for continual draining of rainwater even if slowly.
Anything diabolically unsound about this plan..?
(aside; for effective draining the perforated grates on the cockpit scuppers must be removed)

 

[garryh]

....would allow the main drain seacocks to be closeD when away from boat...

 

[Loren Beach]

I have long pondered (well, not every day...) why a boat would not have it's cockpit drains all above the DLW. Perhaps not a long ways above, but maybe a half foot or so.
First piece of information needed is the height of the cockpit sole above the waterline.
History: our prior boat had two 2.25" drains at the rear of the cockpit than connected via hoses to valved thru hull fittings straight down. This worked fine, but those valves were really hard to access.
The Olson has all transom area thru-hulls above the waterline. without measuring it, the distance must be between 6" and 12". No valves. The 80's Ericson's have their drains under the curve of the aft hull, well above the DLW also.

I have to wonder if the design brief for the E-35-2 was to pretty up the stern view and "hide" the drain exits. Given that all these boats will have the cockpit sole XX inches above the waterline, the challenge is just routing the hoses.

No matter where the drain exits the hull there will be occasional back flooding if the hull squats low enough or a following sea is high enough... I recall that we were getting small spurts of water up thru our drains on a windy trip down the WA coast when our speed was over 10 kts in 5' seas and wakes were surging up against the transom as high as the exits. Running down wind in 24 kts of wind was worth a wet shoe or two.

Our factory drain fittings are Marelon with screwed-on 90 degree elbows to make that turn aft as high up as possible, BTW.
A retrofit for your model might take some thinking and sketching, but might well be worth the time and attention. I wonder if the exit could be moved to just below the transom?

Regards,
Loren

 

[steven]

I have a contractor looking at the feasiblity and cost of draining the aft scuppers to the hull underside just below the transom, with a seacock just inside the hull. and
limber holes cut in the structure (what do you call it - a thwart?) that separates the skipper well from the rest of the cockpit.
The existing plumbing would stay in place.

So underway, shut off the transom drain and drain as factory installed (gate valves have been replaced with seacocks) - no worries about backflow and pipe crisscrossing.
At dock when away, close the forward cockpit drains and open the transom drain.

I'll post as soon as they let me know.

Meanwhile, ideas, especially improvements the above concept, welcome.

 

[garryh]

would be interesting if feasible. But there are two thwarts and 8"?10"? of space between the thwarts of the two cockpits and not sure how you would get flow fore to aft without possibility of leaking.
Also, the forward cockpit slopes forward toward the scuppers and there would need to be a fair accumulation of rain before it would begin to drain out the aft limber holes. And since not all would drain out, could get a bit swampy if you were away for a while. Interesting though, please keep us posted!

 

[steven]

yep, may not be feasible.

I've considered ripping out the thwarts on either side of the wheel base, and glassing over the holes that would be left in the floor.
are they structural ? Otherwise I do not see a function.

--Steve

 

[garryh]

Steve that to me just seems like a HUGE amount of cost and work for marginal results. If not majorly structural, the thwart is certainly 'semi structural (the strength of anything is the sum of the strength of it's parts) and even after all the hacking and cutting and fitting and fairing and painting, you still have a cockpit full of swampy water that won't drain uphill. This just does not seem like a workable plan to me when there are SO many other projects! just my 2c