Location of bilge pump outlet

[DSGregLS]

I hope I'm not outstaying my welcome with so many questions but DS's are very rare in Australia. Installing an electric bilge pump at what I believe is the lowest point of the hull just aft of the mast. I would like to let the discharge out through the leading vertical edge of the CB case. Shorter hose, less headloss, no holes in hull.
Any thoughts ?
Cheers Greg

[GreenLake]

Greg, there's no question of outstaying your welcome at all. There are many people in the US who have no personal access to other people with DaySailers either. Not everyone is in a fleet here, or even a region where a significant number of DS are being sailed. Now to your question.

I'm afraid your idea isn't as sound as you might imagine, because when sailing there's a kind of backwash going on that pressurizes the forward top of the CB trunk. Nothing a check valve couldn't take care of, but then you might as well have routed the discharge directly through the hull.

DS2's have a very narrow opening for a CB uphaul at that location and DS2 owners are perpetually unhappy about it leaking - sometimes so substantially as to be "squirting".

Are you planning this installation for automatic operation when the boat is moored or docked, or do you imagine using it while underway? In my experience a DS1 unless sailed in the rain or in very choppy conditions doesn't tend to take on significant water. Exceptions are when you start burying more than the rail (or do a full capsize) or, when trailering, if you lower it in the water w/o fitting the plug first

In case of a full capsize, an electric bilge pump may not be the answer -- I imagine the batteries might not like being immersed.

Just thinking out loud here. More useful input if you can clarify your scenario.

[DSGregLS]

Hi Greenlake, once again thanks for the prompt reply. I was imagining the bilge pump manually switched on when I unfortunately take green water over the leeward rail. The boat ( It is now known as Odette) has a push down venturi bailer just aft and to port of the mast step, however in my experience these only work when the boat has some speed. If it had a belly full of water this would not be possible and hence the electric pump. I'll be fitting a battery to serve permanent nav lights and masthead anchor light so there will be 12v available.
Your point about the CB case being presurised is news as I am much more used to open dagger board slots which are carried much higher ie top of cabin and therefore are often used to dispose of bilge and even grey water.
So it looks like a thru hull high amidships as I don't fancy running a hose under the new removable floors all the way back to the transom.
Cheers Greg

[GreenLake]

Greg,

I can't help thinking that for your purpose, getting the bulk of green water out of the boat until it can be sailed (and the venturi can take over) is probably best served by the proverbial 5 gal bucket (or the Australian equivalent in metric). Not only is a bucket initially (fully swamped boat) going to be faster, it's also not subject to breaking down or tied to batteries that would have been flooded. For moderate water intake (say up to or an inch or two over the floor boards, where a bucket is difficult to fill) it might work well, but I can't see why a venturi drain shouldn't be able to handle that case. With limited water, what would prevent you from making speed (unless you capsized in calm or broke your mast).

That's why I initially assumed you wanted the pump to handle rainfall at the dock.

You'll know your circumstances best and I must say, I have not had experiences with venturi bailers. I also haven't taken on more water than I could shift with a cut-off bleach bottle (makes a shovel-like bailer) and, for the remaining water close to the keelson, I'd lift the floorboards and use a squirt gun - the kind that is a long straight pump.

I do have a bilge pump, but I repurposed it after a basement entrance at our house kept flooding... it's a smallish model, and I must say, it takes a while to shift even a moderate amount of water, but it does manage a 1.5m elevation. It's with that in mind that I made the comment about the 5 gal. bucket.

I've sailed in boats that have open centerboard trunks; those boats were also fitted with gaskets around the CB at the bottom of the trunk. Still, you could see that there was a constant circulation of water inside the trunk. One of the boats had a trunk that was just a smidgeon too low and water would spill over the front edge in some conditions. With no gasket the upwelling in the CB trunk should be more pronounced, and I've witnessed first hand the prodigious quantities of water that can shoot out of a not successfully sealed uphaul fitting on a DS2....

[DSGregLS]

Hi GreenLake, thank you for your, as always, wise counsel. I shall investigate a super soaker and cut a 2 litre (1/2 gallon) milk container. On a BTW I have been concerned at the number of members who have reported water in the apparently sealed f'ard buoyancy tank. So with some trepidation I cut a 1" hole in the lowest point of the tank and installed a bung. Who knows how old Odette is but I was met with just dust and dry air. Phew! OK back to shaping coamings. Cheers Greg

[GreenLake]

Having the ability to inspect is good, on my boat, that bung may have been the way the water got into the front in the first place.

(I forgot the circumstances, but I had the boat stored with the bow down and a storm filled the insides and water ended up in the bow. I later added a big inspection port and replaced the soggy foam. The tanks under the seats appear dry, as far as I can tell by sticking a finger into their 1" opening).

PS on the bailing: do not neglect a 20L bucket for the case of the fully swamped boat. Scoop and super soaker are great for minor standing water, but after a capsize you'll want a bit more. One of my neighbors got stuck on the water in an 8' dinghy after he managed to swamp it. He had no bailer and whatever he tried to use - I think it was his cap - did not shift the water fast enough to prevent it coming back on board just as fast with every small wave. Lucky for him, he was just outside a mooring field and some sailor on his boat saw him and realized that there was something fishy about a sailboat "stuck" in the water with all sails up....

[Swashbuckley]

+1 on Greenlake's small and large manual bailers. In the too many to remember situations in which I have had need to empty a boat of unwanted water, I have almost always found that automatic and power bailers fail when needed most. One point I make in the small bailer is either an edge surface that matches the contour of the hull, (flat or round), or is flexible enough to bend to the shape. It helps with the last 20% of the unwanted water.

[GreenLake]

The last 5% are also amenable to a large sponge. On the DS1 with the floorboards, I usually don't bother with the last drops, but it's nice to be able to dry off the seats for example.

The super soaker has a tip that can aspirate from fairly shallow puddles, so with one of the floorboards lifted to get at the low point in the bilge it's easy to deal with what the bleach-bottle bailer can't scoop. And they are great fun on the water to go after other boats