1975 Ranger 28 Bilge Question

[MikeTX]

I purchased a Ranger 28 in January and over the last 30 years this thing has been strip down to race. (love this boat, but sometime I look at it and think... "I wonder what they had in mind when they did that?") The inboard has been removed and an aluminum tray has been placed over its location to mount batteries along the centerline. The scuppers lead to small holes on either side of this tray. There is a small overflow hole at the base of the companion way and when it rains the overflow runs down the cabin floor to the keal bolt compartment were an electric bilge pump evacuates the water to the thru hull under the head sink. I'm thinking... this can't be right. Can any one tell me how their bilge pump is set up? If I remove the "after market" aluminum battery tray, am I going to find access to the bilge and nice place to mount an electric pump? Also, should the scuppers lead to the bilge or the transom?

[Faster]

I suspect you'll find that there are/were through-hulls beneath the cockpit that the scuppers orginally were connected to (presumably under the aluminum tray).

Pretty idiotic to be sending rainwater into the bilge on purpose!

My brother had an R28 before and that's how the cockpit drains were handled. If there's enough clearance you could put them through the transom - but on some boats it can back flood into the cockpit when heeled.