How do you build a selfbailing cockpit?

[myona]

Originally posted by mayona:
I purchased a 1946 wooden boat. Was built in IOW by H Rooke but got no more info. I would like to find out what type is the boat and some hints for its restoration. LOA 8.1m Beam 2.3.

I am restoring this boat and would like to build a self bailing cockpit and benches on either side. Could any body send me some sort of plans or drawings /pics including standard measurments
Any help pls
thanks
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[Meerkat]

The sole (floor) of a self bailing cockpit should be at least 6" above the load water line of the boat at it's lowest point. For some reason I've never been able to fathom, cockpit soles seem to have their lowest point at the forward end of the cockpit (they slope from aft forward), which is where the drains would be. The drains are crossed underneath so that the starboard drain empties out the port side and vice versa. Diameter of drain pipes should be as large as practical, be double clamped and they should have a readily accessible seacock to close the through-hull in case the pipe comes loose. They should also have screening to prevent stuff from getting into the drains and clogging them.

You'll have to ask someone else as to how high the footwell sides should be. If you put lockers under the seats, they need to be well sealed and have scuppers (channels) around them to quickly drain away water before it can find it's way into the lockers.

One thing you should be very concious of, especially in an older boat like yours, is the weight of water if the cockpit is fully filled. Sea water weighs 64 pounds per cubic foot and a full cockpit must have structural reinforcing to take the hundreds of pounds of weight involved.

Your best bet would probably be to consult someone with the necessary nautical engineering knowledge.

[Andrew Craig-Bennett]

This is what my 1937 boat now has (this is a rebuild of the original self bailing cockpit, rather different to Mark 1 version).

There is a wide bridge deck between cockpit and companion hatch, supported on two larger than usual beams and an intemediate normal beam.

The seats are at deck level, indeed they are structurally the deck. You actually sit on teak slat seats. The footwell, which in point of fact drains aft, is a one inch marine ply box, supported on four posts wicth run from deck beams to grown frames, with carlins and half beams to take the cockpit sole. 1 1/2" drains to seacocks at the fore end, drain pipes crossed over. It is important to site the seacocks where you can get at them, and to preserve means of access to all areas behind, to each side of and below the cockpit as such. Footwell has large fillets of epoxy in the corners to give a 1 1/2" radius and is epoxied and glassed, with a teak grating, held clear of the bottom to allow drainage.

There are no cockpit lockers; there is a lazarette hatch aft under the tiller. One side of the cockpit houses the fuel tank and the other has a quarter berth.

This is not very comfortable, but it is strong and safe and durable. It is terribly easy to introduce a rot pocket in a self bailing cockpit.

[myona]

DO YOU HAVE ANY PICS OR PLANS PLEASE?

Originally posted by Andrew Craig-Bennett:
This is what my 1937 boat now has (this is a rebuild of the original self bailing cockpit, rather different to Mark 1 version).

There is a wide bridge deck between cockpit and companion hatch, supported on two larger than usual beams and an intemediate normal beam.

The seats are at deck level, indeed they are structurally the deck. You actually sit on teak slat seats. The footwell, which in point of fact drains aft, is a one inch marine ply box, supported on four posts wicth run from deck beams to grown frames, with carlins and half beams to take the cockpit sole. 1 1/2" drains to seacocks at the fore end, drain pipes crossed over. It is important to site the seacocks where you can get at them, and to preserve means of access to all areas behind, to each side of and below the cockpit as such. Footwell has large fillets of epoxy in the corners to give a 1 1/2" radius and is epoxied and glassed, with a teak grating, held clear of the bottom to allow drainage.

There are no cockpit lockers; there is a lazarette hatch aft under the tiller. One side of the cockpit houses the fuel tank and the other has a quarter berth.

This is not very comfortable, but it is strong and safe and durable. It is terribly easy to introduce a rot pocket in a self bailing cockpit.

[Jack Heinlen]

EitherBoatbuilding or How to Build a Woodenboat are books that will give you construction details. The first is by Chapelle, the second by McIntosh. A good library should be able to get them for you, or the later is available from the Woodenboat store.

A check of the online index of WB would be worthwhile too. I'll bet good practice for this construction has been covered more than once, and you can order back issues from WB, assuming your library doesn't have a subscription.

BTW, welcome, and good luck.

[Bruce Hooke]

While it's best if the cockpit sole is 6" (15 cm) above the waterline, my father's boat has a self-bailing cockpit that's more like 1 1/2" (4 cm) above the waterline and it does work after a fashion. On his boat there is one drain at the centerline. I'd guess that if there were two drains at the forward corners of the cockpit sole the leeward drain would bring water into the cockpit as soon as the boat heeled much at all. One result of a centerline drain is, of course, if water gets into the cockpit while sailing a good portion of it will not drain out until the boat comes back to level, say as you tack. However, it does get rid of the bulk of the water. In actual fact we often close the seacock when under way in quiet conditions to keep water from coming back up into the cockpit. In some ways the most important function of this drain on a boat that is used mostly for sailing on sheltered waters is to get rid of rainwater that falls in the cockpit while the boat is not being used.

I'm afraid I don't have any pictures or plans. As others have noted, you might want to try to get your hands on some good boatbuilding and boat repair books. In doing a major rebuild on this boat you are going to encounter a lot of things that are much more complicated than cockpit drains so working on getting together some good reference books will help you throughout the process. The WoodenBoat store has some good choices but, of course, the shipping to Malta is likely to be costly. Hopefully you've got some good local sources for such books.