Redesigning cockpit sole for Alberg 30

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StephenHenson
Bottom Sanding Grunt
Posts: 8
Joined: Sat Oct 31, 2020 4:25 pm
Boat Name: Nori
Boat Type: Alberg 30

Redesigning cockpit sole for Alberg 30

Post by StephenHenson »

I may have initially posted this in the wrong place. I apologize for the redundancy...

A previous owner cut a large access panel in our cockpit sole. Sadly, they made zero alterations(that I can see) to stop water ingress, so of course, the whole area is spongy.

We’ve recently removed the Atomic 4, and are preparing to make an outboard well(with James’ guidance) in the aft locker, so we don’t need the access.

So with background hopefully covered, here’s my idea/question... I would like to raise the sole a few inches to ship less water, and slope it aft, towards large direct overboard scuppers(eliminating two more thru-hulls!). Does this sound feasible with the design of the boat? Practical? Silly? Am I overlooking a reason it won’t work?

Thanks in advance for any advice, and thanks for adding me to the group!

Stephen
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atomvoyager
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Re: Redesigning cockpit sole for Alberg 30

Post by atomvoyager »

I've thought about doing this on my Triton and Alberg 30s I've worked on but haven't yet mainly because of concerns over losing headroom when standing under the bimini or boom. Depending on your height and how much headroom you're willing to sacrifice, it seems like a good way to eliminate two seacocks. It's not a trivial issue because if someone is standing in the footwell they feel safe from the boom but if there is no clearance there is a real risk of injuring or killing someone during an accidental jibe. It may be possible to preserve some headroom by raising the gooseneck a few inches if you have mainsail clearance at the head. If you go for it then deck and cockpit seat drains can be moved to drain directly below to 90 degree thru-hulls above the waterline on each side. Let us know what you come up with as far as how much headroom you end up with and how high to raise the forward end of the footwell for good drainage and if it's possible to reduce how far you must raise it forward by lowering the aft end of the footwell or if you run out of space there. Lowering the aft end may cause backflooding though if too close to the waterline. One-way flap valves may be needed to reduce nuisance waves splashing in.
While working in there, have you noted if your rudder shaft tube between hull and footwell is a full length glass tube (good) or a short tube just barely at the resting waterline with leaky stuffing box attached (not so good)?
CapnK
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Re: Redesigning cockpit sole for Alberg 30

Post by CapnK »

Stephen - My quick reply, I should be able to post more detail in the next couple of days as with the rain coming I will only be able to work at the keyboard. Short answer: Should work fine.

On cutting out my soggy floppy cockpit sole (for the same reasons as you, basically), I found that there is a nice, mostly solid FRP lip of about 1-1.25" around the perimeter on which to lay the new sole. The waterline of my boat was about 4" below the top of the original sole, based on what I saw with the rudder shaft tube. I glued in an ~8" piece of PVC pipe up around the shaft to keep water from overflowing there into the bilge when the boat 'squats'. If I were keeping the boat, I'd run a couple 2" or 3" drains right from the back of the sole out of the hull - or maybe into the o/b well? On my boat, you'd need to have the forward end of the sole probably at least 1.5-2" higher than the aft end for drainage. That's close to what I have on my Ariel, and there I carved a knotch on the foam around the tiller head area to create a small well to encourage drainage and also to trap small amounts of water easily. Both are very ugly right now as they are still in the rough and I do not have them painted, but I'll get a couple of shots to post.

Hope that helps somewhat!
Kurt and Barque, the CrewDog.
Sundance, '71 A-30, #429
Katie Marie, Ariel #422
Melelani, Islander 36 (shoal)

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StephenHenson
Bottom Sanding Grunt
Posts: 8
Joined: Sat Oct 31, 2020 4:25 pm
Boat Name: Nori
Boat Type: Alberg 30

Re: Redesigning cockpit sole for Alberg 30

Post by StephenHenson »

Thank you Gentlemen! I will take all that into consideration. I’ll get the measuring tape and level out, to check head room and how much slope I’ll need, as well as where the new scuppers would land in relation to the waterline. Will keep you up to date on what I find and how the project progresses.

Stephen
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