Hello Dik, The repair that we made on "hula pie" has worked out real well for sailing on lakes and inlets where the chances of getting pooped are about zero but something better will be necessary for the ocean. Jerry M. suggested two larger drains straight thru the transom above the waterline, the problem is finding the right pieces to make this work as there is only about six inches to work with between the cockpit and the transom and two large thruhulls, back to back, add up to about 12inches! There is a type of " trapdoor" drain on some racing boats but I don't know where to find one or if that could be made to work. I too am looking to make this type of improvement so let us know if you come up with a good idea. Today is the last day out on Scotts Flat lake as the water level is getting too low to launch-fortunately some good 20 knot winds are predicted so Cat and I will try to get that rail down this P.M. Next week we plan to try out the California Delta, boat camping for a few nights around Franks Tract, Mandeville and Venice Islands so if any NorCal M boaters or Potter Yachters want to join up just let us know. Here's to making the "older" Montgomerys even better, Ron and Cathryn Goodspeed M17 "hula pie" #025