# Self Bailing Pros/Cons?



## topnative2 (Feb 22, 2009)

My experience tells me only if the sole is way above the water line and it is truly a self bailer.

Otherwise u have nothing but wet feet and gear---cause u can never get the "scuppers" to seal correctly.


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## erussell (Mar 31, 2011)

Hey Firecat,

I have a self bailing cockpit on my Hewes Bonefisher. It has its benefits and downfalls as well. I like the fact that water isn't draining into the bilge all of the time and kicking on the pump, but it is kind of a pain to keep the cockpit dry. Mine doesn't have scuppers but plugs instead, which help with water not being able to get in the boat (which also makes it a pain to drain if needed). That being said, taking it to the sandbar and having wet people get in and out to access the cooler etc makes it less than desirable. Poling and fishing though if you're not getting out of the boat I love this set up. Anything else I would prefer drains.


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## camp (Jul 31, 2011)

Really depends on the boat. I have a 21 ft. grady white with scuppers that have never been plugged and has never taken a drop into the boat. I also have a panga, it is not practical to leave the scuppers unplugged unless at the dock, but it is very comforting in the middle of the night when it is pouring cats and dogs to know that the boat is self bailing.


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## richg99 (Nov 28, 2009)

I never had great success with "self-draining" scuppers. When I stepped to the stern, water would try to come in. If I was way up forward, the tilt of the boat would keep water from draining. 

I did have better luck with the ping-pong ball type than the flap type, though.

On one occasion, I got caught under a bridge in a rainstorm. The boat filled up quickly from the bridge gutters. I pulled the plugs; and then drove her forward.... which emptied her out pretty well. That is ONE occasion out of many years, though. Rich


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## firecat1981 (Nov 27, 2007)

I think you guys have basically talked me out of adding them to my next project. I'll most likely stick to my past practice of a self draining deck into the bilge with an automatic bilge pump, and way more floatation foam then is needed to float her right in an emergency.

Thanks guys.


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## DuckNut (Apr 3, 2009)

I have seen floor drains feeding a tube going out the transom and was always dry. 

They were in front of the rear boxes (about 4' from the transom) and had a small hump in the drain tube and the ping pong ball style stopper at the end.

It seems like a lot of work but it worked well on his skiff.


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## anytide (Jul 30, 2009)

a real self-bailer will just drain, no plugs /pong balls /scuppers etc. the deck height and slope have to be right.
-a little comes in when launching or a large stern wave and goes right out....
-all those one-way water gizmos never work for long or at all.


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## firecat1981 (Nov 27, 2007)

So my choice would end up being build the floors much higher so the scuppers almost never be under water, which would make the boat less stable at rest. Or Build it so the scuppers are under water and try to rely on flap/pingpong covers to help, but end up plugging them cause they never work for long. Or just have the deck drain into the bilge and have a good sized pump back there.

The last option makes the most sense to me for a smaller boat. That is how my last few boats have been set up. I got caught in a storm a while back and the bay went from smooth to 3 footers pretty quick. They were breaking over the bow and before we knew it we had 3 inches of standing water in the boat. My boat is wood cored and foam filled so I wasn't worried about sinking, but it did show me I need a bigger bilge pump on my next skiff. The one I have now is 500gph, and it quickly pumped out all the water once we got to the flats, but I think the next boat will have a 800-1200gph pump instead.


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## anytide (Jul 30, 2009)

stability will be ok with higher decks unless your building a canoooo.


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## Vertigo (Jun 3, 2012)

A properly designed self bailing boat will be dry and stable. Problem is that many designs are a little too much of a compromise. The cockpit sole must be a few inches above the waterline in all conditions. One-way valves that drain a sole that is at or just slightly above the waterline will always let water in.


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## WhiteDog70810 (May 6, 2008)

> So my choice would end up being build the floors much higher so the scuppers almost never be under water, which would make the boat less stable at rest.


This was my knee-jerk response, but after thinking about it, I am not so sure it is as significant as I might think.  The main mass that raises the center of gravity in an inshore boat is you.  You are going to be standing on the deck 15-16" above the bottom most of the time while fishing unless you are on a platform and are higher.  If it is stable enough for that, how much does raising your gear 4-6" above the bottom really matter (assuming you aren't loaded down like a garbage scow)?  I expect the effect is negligible in all but the most narrow of skiffs, but that is just my gut feeling, not proven fact.  Most of us sit on the deck when running, so our butt and COG are therefore the same distance above the bottom no matter the height of the sole.  If you stand while running, the effect would be more significant.  I think the main problem will be lack of storage.  While you can raise the sole 4-6", the deck is limited to within 1-2" of the sheer with camber.  The amount of usable space under the decks will be dramatically reduced.  In a 15" deep boat with 3" wide deck supports, you might no longer be able to fit a regular gas tank under the deck or fit 3 rods under each gunnel if you raise the sole 6" .  If you were building a deeper boat this might not be the case.  I think deep vee offshore boats have self-draining decks that actually work.  Inshore boats are more problematic because of the low sheer.

Maybe you could lay 6" of pink Styrofoam topped by a sheet of 1/4" ply on the sole of your current boat, load your gear up and try to fish it for a day.  That would give you a rough idea of how big of a bear you are considering tackling.  I'll try it on mine one of these days also.  Mine should be more finicky because the bottom is only 40", but maybe it would be tolerable.

Nate


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## firecat1981 (Nov 27, 2007)

Don't need to play with it Nate, I know my boat well and it goes from barge stable to fairly tippy once you step from the cockpit out on the decks. Remember I am actually going to a more substantial boat next, but it will be a family friendly boat and we will be running across the bay with her. Higher sole means less safety on a smaller boat, but I am looking at a v hull so there are some things to consider. 

Storage will be an issue, but I have some ideas I'd like to try. I'm not a fan of under deck fuel tanks, but I might be able to work out somewhat of a hybrid for this next go around. I'm also hoping to have an in deck rod locker, but that might be pushing it on a 16ft boat.


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## WhiteDog70810 (May 6, 2008)

My reason for suggesting the mocked-up raised sole wasn't to determine if there would be a change in stability. There will definitely be some change. The goal was to see how significant the change would be, i.e. if the difference isn't too bad, you might feel more comfortable trying a self bailing sole on a more stable hull. I concur that a self-baling sole will be a safety hazard on a low sheer, narrow skiff. If the stability is already noticeably decreased on the deck, you are wise not to try it. 

I didn't realize yours was particularly tippy. I knew you were thinking of going bigger the next time around, but wasn't sure exactly how much bigger. A vee hull with deeper sides will give you more vertical space to work with. Do you have an design in mind yet? You were still brainstorming last I saw.

Nate


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## DuckNut (Apr 3, 2009)

I think it would be real easy to figure out. Many boats that have livewells use a pump to pump water in at the rate of 800+gph and they drain out a 1" tube without flooding via gravity.

If it were mine I would have a cockstop at the point of the hull to close it off in an emergency.


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## cutrunner (Jun 8, 2010)

I made sure every thru hull that's below water line has an on off valve.
I can't understand why so many companies put a valve on the incoming pump but not on the 1.5in drain?


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