Rutea was built to Lloyds'
hull specifications so I don't doubt that her two-and-a-half inch cock pit drains were well calculated. We have never taken a wave that has tested how quickly the two massive drains will empty the
cockpit of
water but I don't doubt that it's pretty quick. The problem is that the sea cocks on the other end of the drain hoses (which are wire-reinforced
exhaust hose and are secured with double t-bolt clamps) are well below the waterline and in a difficult area to access. Shortly after we bought the
boat, I had the original ball valves replaced with new
bronze ones but the problem is that a two-and-a-half inch ball valve is going to be stiff to open and close under any circumstances. To complicate matters, the yard that installed the ball valves had to cut the handles shorter in order for them to operate at all but reducing the needed leverage to open and close the valve easily. A couple of years ago, I replaced the too-short handles with ratcheting box end wrenches and even though I keep them well sprayed with WD-40, they haven't held up well. Granted, it's unlikely that a hose would give way, opening a two-and-a-half inch hole in the
boat but it seems improper to have a big sea cock that can't be opened and closed easily. I've thought about installing
electric sea cocks but they're pretty expensive. I'm hoping that there's a really clever CF
member out there that can make some recommendations.
Fair winds and calm seas.