Bilge Pump Discussions

[Scott Galloway]

I have read the posts on bilge pumps on this site and the Ariel Manual on the subject of cockpit-mounted manual bilge pumps.

I have decided to add a second manual bilge pump to my Ariel. I want to add that pump in the cockpit, and I suppose the best place for me will be on one of the sidewalls of the cockpit. It probably makes the most sense to do that reasonably close to the forward part of the cockpit. I have read the Ariel manual, which recommends the bridge deck or bridge deck wall, but that forces me to place the body of the flush-mounted bilge pump and one to one and a half inch tubing in the cabin where it would be in the way and would be unsightly in my opinion. If I understand my boat, there is a double wall there, so the installation would be more complicated than placing a flush mounted pump in a sidewall of the cockpit, which places the body of the pump in the cockpit locker.

I don't relish the idea of chopping a 3.5 inch hole in my boat to accommodate the flush mounted bilge pump.

Now for the questions:

1. Does anyone out there have what you consider to be the ideal, or at least the most pragmatic solution to adding a manual cockpit bilge pump?

2. How have you sealed a flush mounted manual pump to prevent leaks?

3. Does your method actually prevent leaks?

4. If you have a higher volume pump, how many strokes per minute can you handle without fatiguing quickly at that volume?

The choice sees to be the higher volume ~ 20 gallons per minute with a 1.5 inch line, or lower volume ~10 gallons per minute with 1.0 inch line, or forgetting the whole thing and buying the sublimely expensive 30 gallons per minute Edson versatile and portable pump suitable for pumping your bilge, holding tank or washing your anchor or boat down. In the latter case, you would not have to worry about mounting the pump, since it is mounted to a board and is designed to move around the boat.

5. Here is an idea: is it worthy?

The very expensive Edson portable pump model 290017 (see West Marine ecatalog) gave me the idea of buying a much less expensive standard surface mounted 20 GPM bilge pump and mounting it to a board that would slip and clamp into the opening between the cockpit and the lazarette hatch to be used as an emergency bilge pump or wash-down pump, and could also be carried around the boat to be used at other locations. By hooking the pump up with a quick connect/ disconnect fitting to a bilge hose in the lazarette locker, one could have a readily available bilge pump to use in the cockpit when needed without having to chop more holes in the boat, and at the same time one would have a handy pump to use as an anchor wash-down pump on the foredeck. In the bilge pump mode, the outflow pipe could used the OB well as some writers have suggested they are now doing with their fixed mounted bilge pumps, or could have a transom-mounted through hull with a second quick disconnect. I have a one-inch plastic "cistern fitting" designed for a bait tank that has an adapter that reduces to a standard garden hose fitting. This unit is suitable for mounting through the lazarette cockpit bulkhead and connects on the bilge side to one inch bilge tubing. I am already using one of these units on my bilge pump line. That pump is mounted on the aft wall of the cabin above the galley shelf.

6. Also, has anyone installed and used the Plastmo Cockpit Bilge pump? I am not so sure about the strength of the handle. It looks like a good concept otherwise.