PocketShip.net

I decided to install small bilge pumps on each side of the trunk.

Not much water gets in there, but I do get some and when I pump it out with a hand pump water goes places I don't want it to and afterwards much flows back out of the pump. These little pumps (500 GPH) are inexpensive and work very well. This one was a little crooked when I shot the photo I see--I'll have to straighten it. I have a feeling I'll need to do that every time before I turn them on, especially after trailering. I see no way to fasten them down, but it's not really a problem. I'm also debating how I'm going to anchor the discharge tubes--no way do I want to drill any holes in the trunk. The floorboards hold them in place pretty well when they are installed, so I may just put a couple p-straps in the stringer at the top (want the tubes to go straight up, then back to the cockpit) and I see no problem drilling holes up there.

Pete McCrary put a single pump in front of the trunk but I find, at least on my boat, that water tends to accumulate in the compartments aft of the ballast. This is good because I don't have to remove floorboards to get at the pumps. The little pumps I put in were $35 each, so not bad.

Finished the project.

Pump is in there straight now. We'll see how long it stays that way.


Lift-out floorboard section dropped in place. As you can see I drilled a hole and sawed out a slot so the sections can be easily removed and replaced.


I simply ran the discharge tubing up to a conduit clamp. I wanted to use two or three of the black plastic clamps but couldn't find any large enough so went with metal. Found I only needed one on each side.
BTW, these are not the more expensive automatic pumps. I don't like the idea of leaving them on all the time, especially since I can't be sure they are staying straight up. As I said not that much water gets in there and it's easy enough just to switch the pumps on when you board the boat. The water shoots out of there really fast, even with these cheap little pumps.

Dana, great write up but the pictures do not show.

That's strange, they show up on my computer. I just checked on my cell phone and they are not there. I used Google Photos instead of Photobucket the way I used to do it. So I will re-upload the pics using Photobucket.

Follow-up: I could not get Photobucket to work at all now. I went back to Google Photos and this time I just copied and pasted them and it seems to have worked--I see them on my cellphone now anyway. Let me know.

They are still not showing for me.

Question: Do you know where the water in your bilge is coming from?

Thanks

That's strange. I'll fire up my "old-fashioned" 2-year-ole laptop and check them there. Not that these particular pictures are all that great, or even necessary, I just want to make sure they're working for future posts. I FINALLY got Photobucket to work although it extremely frustrating--I think they don't want people using their free version any more. I'll let you know when I have the pics reloaded.

How the water is getting in has always been a mystery. I had thought it was the conduit leading up to the rope lockers--stupidly I had cut them off flush with the bottoms of the lockers (don't know what I was thinking. But I have since installed hatch covers on the lockers and they are always dry inside when I check, so I don't think that is it (the ends of the conduits are not completely flush--they do extend up about 1/8 inch, so there would be a little water left in the lockers after a rain if any got in). The only other possibility I can think of is rain finding it's way in through the companionway hatch, but I never find any wet areas in the cabin after a rain. So it has me baffled, but as I say it's not much and very easy to deal with.

I'm sorry. Photobucket is totally screwed up. Ads keep jumping in and then nothing works, etc., etc. I'm going to try Flickr. Will let you know.

OK, enrolled in Flickr. Uploaded the pictures from there and now I see them on my laptop, so should be working for you now. Please let me know, because as I said these pictures are not all that important, but I definitely want to get them working.

Pictures come through now. Thanks Dana...

Dana,
Where does the water discharge? Out the hull side?
Thanks
Jeff