The Cockpit Sole

/ Bill

One of the problems with the Folksong is cockpit drainage.

Cockpit Detail

There are two drains set into the aft end of the cockpit that, in Blue Mistress’ case, lead out below the waterline.
Because the cockpit sole is at water level, there is always water visible in these drains.
At no time, in the six months I have sailed her, have I got wet feet, or found there to be any other than a minimal amount of water around these drains.
I am assured by the previous owner that he found this to be so too.

However, I know of at least one other boat that has ‘wet foot’ problems.

Well, I have found that the cockpit sole of Blue Mistress is a false one. It is 4-5 inches above the original.
There is a space between with, I presume, a supporting framework.
I guess this was a problem picked up when she was originally launched.

The real problem, of course, is how to placing sea valves on the outboard end of the drains to stop inflow in the unfortunate event of the drain becoming detached.

One solution is to place a sealed box containing an automatic pump below the cockpit, and direct the drains into this with an outlet above the waterline.
It sounds plausible, but a) expensive, and b) likely to be a drain on the batteries.

The jury is still out.

3 thoughts on “The Cockpit Sole”

  1. I’ve got two large 1.5 inch cockpit drains and one smaller one. I only open the large ones if I’m sailing off shore. The small one I only open when the boat is out of the water. When it’s at its mooring I cover the cockpit with a tarpaulin over the boom. It’s not ideal though. All the drains have seacocks so in the event of the hose becoming detached it is possible to shut them. They are attached with double jubilee clips. The difficulty is getting access to the seacocks, so I had to cut a hole in the cockpit floor and put in a circular hatch, the sort that screws into place. My cockpit floor is at sea level, so I would get wet feet if the seacocks were open. Also water getting into the cockpit then leaks back into the bilge, not sure how yet.
    I think it’s really important to have seacocks for any through hull fitting that’s below the waterline.

  2. Lovely beautiful boat, I viewed one in Shoreham seven years back but bought a Folkdancer 27 instead. The Folksong is a boat that mightily and sweetly captures my heart every time I see one and yesterday I saw one looking absolutely lovely on the River Deben, she was named Folksong and in the same colours as your Blue Mistress. I can see you love your boat from the photos you have taken, this angle, that angle, out of the water showing her exquisite lines and I feel the same about my Folkdancer.
    The cockpit drains issue is common to both types and I read an early review of the Folkdancer which claimed they were semi self draining as they were so close to the water line and then when a heavy engine and lots of modern cruising equipment is added the drains sink below the surface and let in annoying water which yes, leaks through the cockpit sole hatch into the bilge. I raised my cockpit floor with timber fillers foam chips and thickened epoxy with some success. It came up about four inches.
    Yours enthusiastically Clarissa

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