It is easier to manually pump the bilge. Most
often a manual pump is located on deck near
the helm. If the bilge is expected to be dry and
that is found not to be the case, further investigation
would be warranted.

Should you actually inspect the bilge? Yes periodically.
How often is up to you. I've found that even small
cracks that can't be sealed will leak water. The
important thing to remember is to check it often. I've
often read of people waking up to find water over the
cabin sole. Checking often, either by using a manual
bilge pump and or visual inspection might give you the
extra time needed to save the boat.

The lesson here is it is a good idea to manually
pump the bilge because it makes it more obvious
if water is coming into the boat, while electric
bilge pumps make such problems transparent
until they are more severe. Also, it saves your
batteries and give you a bit of exercise.

Use your manual bilge pump often to ensure it
works, and have spare parts on hand. Having
more than one pump is a smart idea also.

By the way, you get to be a real sailor by actually
sailing, by being humble enough to realize that you
can learn from everyone, and finally by being smart
enough to recognize that the subject is one that
requires deep and constant study to master.

"Bob" wrote

Bart Senior wrote:
If they had hand pumped the bilge they would have saved
their batteries, and been aware of the problem early on.

Why is it a good idea to hand pump your bilge every
day when sailing on the ocean? [1 pt]

It's one way to detect any changes in the amount of
water in your bilge.

I'm not a real sailor but I would like to be
someday......................... So you are telling me that nobody does
an hourly visual look to the bilge to see what lurking down there? I
guess that is probably to nast of a job for real saliors.