Once the cabin sides and the coaming had been fitted I could begin work on the cockpit.  The cockpit was to be self-draining (in a self draining cockpit water coming into the cockpit automatically drains out of the boat through holes in its floor). I arrived at the height for the cockpit floor as follows:- 

The plans for the Lysander come with some supplemental sheets of options. These mention that for a self-draining cockpit the floor should be six inches higher than on the plans. I then considered how the cockpit was to be drained, and in the interests of keeping everything as simple as possible decided that the best idea was to have a single drain at the aft end of the cockpit routed straight out through the transom using a skin fitting just above the waterline with a simple flap arrangement to stop waves of water coming back in. The alternative, drains at the forward end in either corner connected to skin fittings below the waterline, was certainly practical but was expensive if properly done with non-return drain fittings and sea-cocks. 

	I had already made the cabin sides longer than on the plans and I now shaped the bulkheads and fixed them 10 inches further aft than on the plans. I clamped straight pieces of wood across to make sure they were in line. If you are familiar with the design of the Lysander then you will notice that the bulkheads I have made have a higher section towards the centre. This is another departure from plan; I am making the central part of the cabin roof seven inches higher for more comfortable accomodation.
	Because I am making the cockpit self-draining, with the floor six inches higher than on the plans, the locker tops need to be higher also. The most practical arrangement seemed to me to use the underneath of the carlins for fixing a support onto. I used some 3x1 parana pine left over from making the hull frames. Here I am marking it with a line an inch from the coaming.
	Having trimmed the support to follow the line of the coaming I fixed it with epoxy and screws.
	At the same level as the support I fixed framing for the locker fronts.
	The framing for the cockpit locker. I put an epoxy fillet along the joint as it had been a bit open in places but needed to be watertight.
	I then fitted the locker fronts and, along the back and ends of the locker support, a piece of ply raised an inch clear of the supports to form a gutter for water coming off the locker tops. Because the cockpit floor was to be one piece of 18mm ply I sloped the locker fronts very slightly in order to make the floor well a bit wider at the top so that I wouldn't have any problems dropping the floor into place. The locker fronts are deep enough to have supports for  the floor fixed to them at the bottom.
	The locker fronts are fixed at their aft end to a piece of ply running from the hog up to the deck beam. The hole in it is for the drain.
	View of the space between the transom and the aft end of the self draining cockpit. The hole on the left is the one referred to in the previous picture. I reinforced the ply around the hole and also reinforced the transom where it will have a hole for the self-drain skin fitting.
	At the front end of the cockpit I made framing for a bridge deck. Here the front of the bridge deck is being fixed.
	Supports for the cockpit floor were fitted to the bottom of the locker fronts, the bridge deck, and the aft end of the cockpit. The floor will be cut from 18mm ply rather tha 9mm so that it will not require extra reinforcement. The cockpit drain fitting has been fixed and sealed with epoxy. When the floor is in place it will be level with the bottom holes of the drain.
	Here is the finished cockpit with 4 coats of varnish.