I’ve had my Freedom 21 for over 3 years now and always thought I was fine with one bilge pump above the keel. However, recently I had an experience that shook that faith: after some heavy rain, I found several gallons of water in the aft section of the boat underneath the cockpit. I’ve identified the leak and fixed it, but I’m generally concerned by this totally separate section in the back of the boat.
It seems that there is a bulkhead where the cabin floor / bunks end, and there’s no drain through this bulkhead allowing water to exit the aft section and travel down to the bilge to drain. And it looks like creating a drain is not really possible because the bilge ends several feet before the the bulkhead.
On one hand, a separate compartment is probably good for flotation: it will stop the entire boat from filling with water. On the other, if water does manage to make it in (ie, through the cockpit seat locker) it has nowhere to go and will be difficult to pump out. I’d hate to be stuck in rough conditions with a ton of water in there because a wave swamped the cockpit.
How is this set up on your boat? Do you have a second bilge pump back there, or does it drain somehow?
I’m talking about the area boxed in red:
