Project: Cockpit Scuppers

Summer 2010

How to allow the water to flow off the cockpit seat/deck area and either into the foot well, or preferably, over the side? 

As you can see from the pictures, the cockpit deck is slightly higher than the side decks and separated by a coaming. This is the reason the cockpit was such mess when we bought the boat - the water couldn't drain off. After talking with friends, we decided to put a scupper through the coaming. 

What the pictures don't show, is that the coaming is hollow, and there is a round access hole to reach into the coaming from inside the boat. This access hole is just big enough to get one's hand into. Like lots of projects, one needs to be a contortionist to do this, but ...

This is what we did: First, J. looked through our supplies and found a 1 inch pvc pipe. Then we drilled a hole on both sides of the coaming, angling down toward the side deck, that would allow the water to flow out. After checking to see that the pvc pipe fits and everything lines up, we waxed the pvc pipe really well and inserted it. The idea is that the pvc pipe becomes a mold for a fiberglass pipe/tube. Next it was time to put on the gloves, mix epoxy, cut glass and create the fiberglass tube through the coaming. Of course there are no pictures of this, as we were covered in epoxy - even though we were wearing gloves. Nice to know that vinegar takes raw epoxy off! 

Here are pictures of the end product. Now the water drains! One more project done!

Notice the scuppers from the side deck allowing water off the boat? There is one to the left in this picture, you can see the three in the photo below.