Here's a better description of our "siphon" system:

* There is a thru-hull fitting

* It is located at the back of the boat about 1 foot
port of center. Is below the waterline.

* The thru-hull fitting looks bit like water intake
for the engine cooling water. But it is smaller and
it's opening faces backward instead of forward.

* The part of the thru-hull fitting is just a round
"tube" that a hoes goes over.

* There is a hose clamped to the thru-hull. The hose
is about 12" long.

* Clamped to the other end of the hose is a brass pipe
with a bend in it.

* The other end of the brass pipe sets in a little
"well" at the bottom of the bilge.

The entire thing looks like an upside down "U".

As the boat moves forward at speed the lake
water running past the outside part of the thru-hull
creates a vaccume in the hose-tube-combination.

The water in the bilge is then (theoretically) sucked
up the brass-tube, then into the hose, then out
the thru-hull fitting.




Since two of you said you can't visualize the siphone
thing, let me explain.

1: There is a thru-hull fitting on the very bottom
of the boat underwater. The side that is outside
the boat and underwater looks a bit like a water
intake but turned so that it's opening is facing
toward the back of the boat instead of the
bow. Plus it's smaller



"Gary Warner" wrote in message
...

A few questions/topics from our weekend
boating. (See my other post for a narrative of that.)


HEAT ALARM:
We've got a temp gauge but I'm thinking I might want an
alarm too. Do these typically work with the existing
sensor & gauge? Any recommendations on good ones?

STOWING ANCHOR ROPE:
A few experiments showed me that trying to tie the anchor
rope into some bundle makes it hard to undo without a mess.
I'm thinking to just use a mesh bag, feed the rope into it, and
leave and end hanging out so it can't work it's way into a
knot. Does that work or no?

ANCHORING:
I've got a 18 lb Danforth for our 22' and 4000# boat.
We've got about 120' of rope (rode?) with some
heavy chain. Mostly we'll be in lakes, Hudson River,
and Boston Harbor. Probably not anchor much.
I'm thinking that in 30' water we'd still have 4:1
scope and that might be ok for us. I guess more rope really
can't hurt except for $$$ and stowage space.

Oh, and I have another 13 lb here. If I was planning
on an overnight maybe I could get more rope and
use the two in conjunction?


BILGE SIPHON:
Our boat has (original) a siphon system to remove bilge water. It's a
thru-hull in the aft with an opening that points aft. Attached to that
is a hose and then a brass tube with a bend in it. This makes an arc
that gets to about 14: above the bottom of the boat. As the boat
moves forward it's supposed to create a suction that pulls water
from the bilge.

A trickle of water enters our bilge between the bottom-most plank
and the keel. I'm not planning on tackling this fix until the winter
so for now there is always some water in the bilge.

We also have two 1100 GPH pumps mounted forward that
work - but only when stopped and the water has run forward.

Q: By look or feel I couldn't tell if the siphon is working. And
ideas on how to tell?

Q: Would I be better off mounting an electrical pump aft?

Q: Could I safely use the existing thru-hull for an electrical
pump as long as I had a length of hose looping above the
waterline...and maybe a check-valve??

Q: Or better to just not worry about it, let the front pumps
do their job, and fix the leak over the winter?