... I do recommend allowing at least the cockpit region to drain into the bilge, and 2 bilge pumps (2 is one ... one is none)...
Am I reading this right? Can you elaborate a bit on the cockpit draining into the bilge Brian? I specifically designed my boat to have the cockpit have as few paths for water to go to the bilge as possible...
Yeah, sure ... it was an ambiguous statement, wasn't it? So yes, do everything you can to keep water out of the bilge and draining out of the scuppers (and I like some arch to the cockpit deck too). I was referring to, and should've been more clear, is that any areas under the deck ought to have a drain path to the aft center (between stringers) bilge area JUST IN CASE water gets down there ... In other words, there's a drain plug at the bottom of the aft house bulkhead that can remain plugged, but chambers between the stringers should have a way to drain to the bilge where water can be pumped out. Chambers with under-deck bulkheads that are outside of the stringers generally allow drainage to the stern without any plugs along the way, and one drain through the stringer at the transom ... into the bilge. But that's a design decision. Outboard of the stringers, it stays pretty darn dry and the aft plugs are really more about venting chambers when in storage, or draining water if you damaged the boat and hit a rock or something. The other side of the coin is that some like to have sealed chambers, no foam, outboard of the stringers. That's fine too. There's a million ways to do these things ... just think through the various water scenarios and address them ... sleeping in the cuddy and the bow trimming down (where can water end up?) ... and raining typhoon rain all night, or wash down of the cockpit, or a big crew in the stern and taking a wave over the transom (or side) etc etc. You don't want the boat to fill with water, even if bow-down trim exists for whatever reason, so slope decks, plug holes, and install pumps. When a large amount of water comes in, say a sneaker wave.... it could be thousands of pounds of water. What do you do? Send everyone forward, open your scuppers (they're big right) and get underway ASAP ... etc.
