[Public-list] Cockpit drains above water line

[Rachel]

Hi folks,

I'll be replacing my cockpit drain plumbing soon - I plan to remove the 
current gate valves and through hulls.  I'm pretty sure I'll also 
replace the drains in the corners of the cockpit with larger ones - the 
originals look to be 1" or slightly less.  I like the 1-1/2" bronze 
Perkos (installed them on another boat), but will have to make sure the 
above deck flange fits - I think it will.

Anyway, on to my real question:  I'm thinking about plumbing the 
cockpit drains so they exit above the waterline, and I'm wondering if 
anyone else has done that.  I did search the list archives and find a 
couple of posts from 2002, in which the idea was discouraged, but 
nothing since then.

I've nothing against through-hulls in general, as I believe that good 
quality seacocks, well-installed, are fine.  On the other hand, cockpit 
drain seacocks are the one case in which you cannot close the seacock 
when the boat is unattended, and certainly no seacock is as safe as a 
solid spot of glass in the hull :-)

Crude measurements show that there is probably something like 8+" from 
the cockpit drain holes to the resting waterline.

I did quite a bit of cruising on a boat that had the cockpit drains 
exiting above the waterline (not an A-30), and it worked pretty well.  
They left the cockpit in the front corners - like on our boats - and 
then hoses ran aft and exited the hull on the transom near centerline; 
in this way they avoided the problem of dipping below the waterline 
when heeled.  As a side bonus, the deep (below waterline) galley sink 
drained by being pumped into one of the scupper lines (with a manual 
bilge pump).

I may very well replace the original set-up (but with better parts and 
larger lines), but there's no harm in exploring other possibilities in 
theory, anyway.  Has anyone run their cockpit drains the way I'm 
describing?

Thanks,

Rachel
1967 Alberg 30, #221


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