Cockpit Drains

[atrometer]

Thank you very much!  I ordered 4 "yellow" from Amazon today - be here Monday. I especially liked the idea of being able to pull the out from the cockpit if needed.

[Sterling]

I shared this post with my wife this morning and she said that someone at Hutchins told her they used different pipe sizes over the years. I measured mine this morning and it's approximately an inch and a quarter.  There is some margin for error with these plugs because of the tapered design, but if you have a larger pipe you might need to go up a size on the scupper plug.  The yellow plugs fit snug and all the way to the top of the plug in my boat.

[dontpanic]

I noticed an old post that mentioned that there is a bulkhead under the aft end of the seats. The theory was that if the cockpit drain pipes broke only a few gallons of water would enter the hull as the bulkhead will limit the amount that can enter the boat.

I don't know if other Compac-16's are different but my bulkheads are only about 4 inches high and the drain pipes are higher than that so it would seem to me that if these drain pipes are accidentally broken that the hull could fill up with water.

While I am a new owner with no Compac experience yet, this seems to make sense to me.  Therefore, I have obtained drain plugs for the cockpit drain holes and also plugs for the stern drain holes in case the drain tubes come apart.. In my case the cockpit drain holes are 1" and the stern drain holes are 1 1/4" so I need to carry two different size sets of plugs. I know this is the old belt and suspenders concept, but drain plugs,are pretty cheap. I got mine at the Bass Pro Shop

[Timwp]

I agree weight is the major issue. Also "don't leave them in"...I learned this the hard way when I showed up at my boat from a shuttle only to fine my boat was a bathtub.

[Nezz]

I am a hopeful future Compac 16 owner who has a weight question. I am a large man (340 lbs) who has concerns about being too large for this size boat. I understand moving my weight off the stern and closer to the cockpit will help, but will it be enough if I sail with a 200 lb passenger. I have seen Compac16s on land but have never been in one on water to see what my weight does to the handling characteristics of the CP16. Any plus size sailors out there in CP16s?

[Duckie]

Your size should have no real effect on how a CP 16 sails except if you use it for moveable ballast.  I think that if you sit yourself up on the combings it would take a pretty poor sail set, and a pretty good gust to lift the windward side too much.  If you have all the weight in the stern of a flat transom boat, you will end up dragging some water around with you because of the backwash that the vertical transom sets up.  That can be a noticeable drag on any boat.  If you are sailing for pleasure and not in competition, it should hardly matter.  To counter that drag I usually hug the bulkhead of the cabin which keeps the stern up and mostly keeps my cockpit drains out of the water. 

I once crossed the straits of Mackinaw in my much smaller Weekender with a guy your size as crew and boy did he come in handy.  I put him to the windward side and hugging the cabin and experienced a smooth upright ride the whole way.  It was rough enough that I had green water over the bow a couple times, but that was just awesome.  I'd sail with him anytime in either of my small boats.

Don't underestimate the power of moveable ballast.

Al

[Nezz]

Thank you Duckie, I feel better, but I will try and still lose weight. I am looking for pleasure cruising only and on a small Minnesota lake. I appreciate your insights.

Nezz

[Duckie]

I know what you mean.  I am a pretty big guy myself.  I find it comes in handy when I single hand either of my 16 footers.  Yesterday I got the wife to go along with me for the first time this year and even though my weekender is half the weight of the Com-Pac, the extra weight made a huge difference in the way she sailed.  For the first time I can remember I was able to sail close hauled on the leeward side of that boat.  Way cool!

I think that Small Craft Advisor said it best: The Com-Pac 16 punches above her weight. 

Al