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#11
posted to rec.boats.cruising
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On serious bilge pumping........
Jonathan,
I have a contractor's "mud pump" that I purchased at Harbor Freight. It is a large centrifugal pump with 2 inch intake and discharge attached to a 3 HP [or maybe 5 HP] gasoline engine. I got a long wire-reinforced plastic hose from a local industrial supplier for the intake. I got a fire hose for the discharge. I used it during Hurricane Isabel to help "dewater" some boats at the marina where my boat is slipped. It was pretty powerful, sucking the water out rather quickly. I do not know how many gallons per minute it is supposed to pump, but in the real world it pumped a lot. I also purchased a fire-hose nozzle for the discharge. This will allow me to use it to put out fires if necessary. I have not had to use the pump on my boat yet. But one time I did start taking on water and it sure was reassuring to know that if I could not solve the problem quickly I could crank up the pump to keep a problem from turning into a crisis. As best I recall the pump and hoses cost me around $250 total. Lee Huddleston s/v Truelove on the hard at Bock Marine Beaufort, NC |
#12
posted to rec.boats.cruising
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On serious bilge pumping........
Jonathan,
I also meant to share with you another thing I have done to help in a situation like you found yourself. I installed a Y valve in the raw-water intake for the engine. One side of the Y goes to the normal thru-hull. The other side of the Y is attached to a long, wire-reinforced plastic hose. Most of the time the Y valve is set to draw water from the thru-hull side. In case of an emergency I can quickly and easily switch the Y valve to the other side and put the hose into the bilge, thus using the engine as an extra bilge pump. The arrangement is also useful when it is time to winterize the engine. I fill up a container with antifreeze, put the hose into the container, switch the Y valve, and within seconds the raw-water system is filled with antifreeze. Lee Huddleston s/v Truelove on the hard at Bock Marine Beaufort, NC |
#13
posted to rec.boats.cruising
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On serious bilge pumping........
Lee Huddleston wrote:
Jonathan, I also meant to share with you another thing I have done to help in a situation like you found yourself. I installed a Y valve in the raw-water intake for the engine. One side of the Y goes to the normal thru-hull. The other side of the Y is attached to a long, wire-reinforced plastic hose. Most of the time the Y valve is set to draw water from the thru-hull side. In case of an emergency I can quickly and easily switch the Y valve to the other side and put the hose into the bilge, thus using the engine as an extra bilge pump. The arrangement is also useful when it is time to winterize the engine. I fill up a container with antifreeze, put the hose into the container, switch the Y valve, and within seconds the raw-water system is filled with antifreeze. Lee Huddleston s/v Truelove on the hard at Bock Marine Beaufort, NC The boat in question is not mine,I was a passenger/crew. Though, I note, my boat does in fact have a Y valve set up similar to what you describe. My Alberg 35 doesn't have a storage space big enough for a trash pump, engine and hose, but the Rule pump Towboat US brought aboard would fit away easily. I've cited it because I'd never seen one before, didn't know it existed. The Coast Guard's trash pump worked very well Jonathan -- I am building my daughter an Argie 10 sailing dinghy, check it out: http://home.comcast.net/~jonsailr |
#14
posted to rec.boats.cruising
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On serious bilge pumping........
Lee Huddleston wrote:
I also meant to share with you another thing I have done to help in a situation like you found yourself. I installed a Y valve in the raw-water intake for the engine. That's a really good idea, especially if you can mount the Y-valve where it is easily accessible. The "inside" suction should be mounted to a large & strong strainer. .... One side of the Y goes to the normal thru-hull. The other side of the Y is attached to a long, wire-reinforced plastic hose. Most of the time the Y valve is set to draw water from the thru-hull side. In case of an emergency I can quickly and easily switch the Y valve to the other side and put the hose into the bilge, thus using the engine as an extra bilge pump. Not sure if I like the idea of the flex hose, why would you ever want to put an engine raw water pump suction to a movable hose? The arrangement is also useful when it is time to winterize the engine. I fill up a container with antifreeze, put the hose into the container, switch the Y valve, and within seconds the raw-water system is filled with antifreeze. That's a bit drastic, you can pour it full of antifreeze easily if you put a small plug or cock at a high point in the piping... I use the plug that hold the zinc in one of the heat exchangers. Aside fromt that, one of the nice things about NC is you really don't have to winterize if you don't want to. Fresh Breezes- Doug King |
#15
posted to rec.boats.cruising
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On serious bilge pumping........
DSK wrote:
Lee Huddleston wrote: I also meant to share with you another thing I have done to help in a situation like you found yourself. I installed a Y valve in the raw-water intake for the engine. That's a really good idea, especially if you can mount the Y-valve where it is easily accessible. The "inside" suction should be mounted to a large & strong strainer. .... One side of the Y goes to the normal thru-hull. The other side of the Y is attached to a long, wire-reinforced plastic hose. Most of the time the Y valve is set to draw water from the thru-hull side. In case of an emergency I can quickly and easily switch the Y valve to the other side and put the hose into the bilge, thus using the engine as an extra bilge pump. Not sure if I like the idea of the flex hose, why would you ever want to put an engine raw water pump suction to a movable hose? The arrangement is also useful when it is time to winterize the engine. I fill up a container with antifreeze, put the hose into the container, switch the Y valve, and within seconds the raw-water system is filled with antifreeze. That's a bit drastic, you can pour it full of antifreeze easily if you put a small plug or cock at a high point in the piping... I use the plug that hold the zinc in one of the heat exchangers. Aside fromt that, one of the nice things about NC is you really don't have to winterize if you don't want to. Fresh Breezes- Doug King My boat has a Y valve to direct raw water suction to the bilge. It does work as a bilge pump but was put there to rinse the raw water side of the cooling system with fresh water. In extremis if the bilge pumps couldn't keep up it is one more option. |
#16
posted to rec.boats.cruising
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On serious bilge pumping........
Although I've run this passage in different boats, my best memories are of
trips in the "Prudence" when taking her from Hyannis to Kelley's boatyard for spring haulout. For whatever reason we normally seemed to go through there when the current was against us and as we'd pass the buoy at the turn for "Broadway" (can't remember the number) we could stand and have a good look at that buoy getting knocked down by the current...... yup, still passing the buoy........G old Prudence was steaming wide open throttle and maybe making 1/2k over ground. otn |
#17
posted to rec.boats.cruising
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On serious bilge pumping........
DSK wrote:
Lee Huddleston wrote: I also meant to share with you another thing I have done to help in a situation like you found yourself. I installed a Y valve in the raw-water intake for the engine. That's a really good idea, especially if you can mount the Y-valve where it is easily accessible. The "inside" suction should be mounted to a large & strong strainer. At least my little diesel (Volvo 2001) pumps so little water - less than 10 litres per minute - that it wouldn't help. A frightened man with a bucket is much more efficent. Markus |
#18
posted to rec.boats.cruising
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On serious bilge pumping........
you may want to consider a gasoline powered water pump, like the ones
the coasties dump to a boat in distress, harbor frieght carries Pacer , a name brand multi purpose, self priming pump. moves alot of water real fast. |
#19
posted to rec.boats.cruising
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On serious bilge pumping........
It still amazes me that there is no better system than red and green
bouys that change and mean just the opposite halfway thru a difficult channel. I have seen this in a number of places such as Woods Hole or the Coast of Maine or Boston and nearby harbors. I use charts more often than not and almost always in unfamilar waters, but I hope that I will live to see the day when one can look at the navigational aids and know right away what they mean. Actually, I do kind of like to figure them out as we are going along. Adds excitment to the day. and I do own a power boat so I tend to have less time to figure it out than a sail boat, but I don't draw as much and I can hit reverse pretty hard if I needed to. |
#20
posted to rec.boats.cruising
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On serious bilge pumping........
"richard" wrote in message oups.com... It still amazes me that there is no better system than red and green bouys that change and mean just the opposite halfway thru a difficult channel. I have seen this in a number of places such as Woods Hole or the Coast of Maine or Boston and nearby harbors. I use charts more often than not and almost always in unfamilar waters, but I hope that I will live to see the day when one can look at the navigational aids and know right away what they mean. Where there's chance of ambiguity, Europe uses cardinal bouys as well as the red and green. Is this not common practice in the USA? JimB |
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