You likely have an obstruction in your cockpit drains. They usually do a LOT better than 5 gallons in 30 minutes. I never timed it, but more like 5 gallons in one minute, two maybe. I would get a piece of wire (e.g., one strand from a piece of Romex, or a coat hanger, carefully straightened) and run it down the drains gently. Look at the situation from your quarterberths first so that you see how the drains are made.
When debris stops up the drains completely, the cockpit never empties at all. It can sit like a bathtub. We get that sometimes here in Connecticut when wind blows leaves, etc. into our boat. A mere following sea is not going to poop you. The stern rises well enough. It is when the following sea is steep and breaks into the cockpit that you could take some water. Those conditions are pretty rare, but not impossible. At that point in time, it would be well to have all your hatchboards in place and the hatch cover closed, as the scariest issue is not the full cockpit, but water going below. I have seen six-foot breaking waves behind me on a downwind run into a harbor, but never took water. Some west coasters may have a different story to tell, as they regularly have to cross bars at the harbor entrances. --Dave S. (Demitri) On 7/1/08 8:07 AM, "David Techlin" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Listers, So when I went out to the boat last Monday and opened thehatch, I > was more than a little concerned when I found 8" of water in the > cabin...turned ouit to be the shutoff on the iceboix drain had a minor crack. > I'll discuss that later. What really concerned me was how slow the cockpit > drained when I dumped 5 gallon pails of water in it. It took 30 minutes with > a 5 gallon bucket and a pail to get the water out of the cabin, that was after > I started dumping the water over the side...no I'm not superman my 26 year old > son was with me. Bottom line was that the cockpit is really slow getting rid > of water with the factory drainage. Has anyone been pooped by a following sea > ? Anyone updated their cockpit drainage and how ? Techlin #1532 >
