I just ought a Merit 25 for an outstanding price. Problem is I know about as much about boating as your average rock. I am going to take sailing classes in the next few weeks but in the meantime I am trying to learn as much as I can on the dry. My question is this: on the back of the boat there are three holes drain holes I guess, Two of them go directly into the cockpit I am guessing for drainage, The other one apparently goes to the bilge pump under the helmsman seat. Do any or all of these need a plug of any kind?

not a dumb question, but pics would help, usually you don't need plugs on a sailboat, the drains are there to empty the cockpit.

Agreed.. those fitting should, in fact, not be plugged - you'd defeat their purpose.

Sailing for Dummies, a truly great book.

Chris, you may not need those plugs. It depends. When the boat is sitting in the water, are the holes above water level? Then perhaps they do not need to be closed with a plug. Look inside your boat. Are they part of the cockpit drain (connected by a tube to the floor of the cockpit)? Is it part of the bildge pump system? You need to look around the boat and find out what's there. One of the fun things to do with a new boat is put on some old clothes and just look at all the nooks and crannies. Explore the internet to find information about your boat. I imagine you can find answers there. There is a Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/Merit25/ that might be informative. It's really nice if you can find someone in your area with the same, or similar boat. Most people are glad to help. Have fun with the new boat.

Look like this?



Those are above-the-waterline cockpit drains by the look of it, with the third smaller one likely the bilge pump outlet.

Possible the bilge pump fitting could end up with water below, but if properly designed it's unlikely.

For sailing itself:

Fast Track to Sailing: Learn In Three Days by Steve and Doris Colgate(Off Shore Sailing School)

Also designed for a boat about your size.

I've been collecting sailing books for 50 years. This one blows all the rest away. You really can teach yourself with this book.

I don't know the setup on a Merit 25 for self-bailing, but above posters sound "right" to me.

Crawl under the cockpit (if possible, ha ha or use a mirror on a stick) and there will be hoses connecting your cockpit drains ("scuppers") to those two holes. If there aren't, and your scuppers are open in the cockpit floor as they should be, the rainwater will drain into the bilge and you'd REALLY be aware of that.

Compliments on selecting the Merit 25, though. By reputation, they are really sweet sailing and responsive boats, that'll give you good performance (they do well in club races) and give you the kind of sensitive "feedback" that will make learning to sail her that much easier, and fun to go faster than the average 25 once you do learn. Heck, you may even end up racing her if there's a fleet nearby.

Good book, that I rarely see mentioned here. I would add The Complete Sailor by David Seidman. With these two books you should be able to take the boat out and have fun. Just pick days that are not too light on wind but not too heavy at first, to keep stress levels down.

Nice thing about these two books are that they are shortish and quick reading. I have not seen the second edition of the Complete sailor so I don't know what has been added but love the first edition.

I have one cockpit drain at front of cockpit.
I find that any pounding causes water to pop up and get half of the cockpit sole wet, including any sheets that happens to be lying there.

I put one of these in before I leave the dock and remove it when close up the boat.

https://www.svb24.com/en/expanding-b...rain-plug.html