Drain Plugs

[powdermoose]

The Oday Javelin manual says that it is self-bailing. It has a drain plug aft and a drain plug in the cockpit well. I am leaving the aft plug in the boat when it's in the water although it is above the waterline when no one is in the boat. After it rained there was water in the cockpit well and cockpit floor... so it was not self-bailing. I moved the lever on the cockpit drain, but nothing happened. When i removed the cockpit drain it started taking water into the cockpit instead of draining water out. How does this thing self-bail?
Thank you for the help.
Sandi

[Alan]

The boat needs to be moving forward when you open the self-bailer. This creates a venturi effect that sucks the water out of the boat.