Basics on a self bailing cockpit

[ddeaton]

Ok, dumb question. If the drain in the cockpit floor is plumbed out under the waterline, close to the keel, will it drain sitting still in the water, or do you need motion, as with a scupper valve? I am used to small boats with non-bailing cockpits, or inboards with bildge pumps.
Thanks,
Danny

[mmd]

Water finds its own level, so yes, it will drain.

It is common to place two drains in the cockpit, one in each corner of the low end, and plumb them to opposite sides of the hull. This ensures that when the boat heels (presuming that we are talking about a sailboat) the leeward scupper does not work in reverse. :eek: