Bilge Pump Function vs. Sinking Problem

[greatcir]

This good West Marine video on bilge pumps opens with a statement from a boat builders book? that the purpose of a bilge pump is to remove rain water and incidental bilge water but it is not designed to prevent sinking from any sort of major damage control.

http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs/st ... nstall.htm

Just interesting to me because I have not found a manual or electric pump I could easily install that could handle a say a four inch diameter hole in the lower hull area..................Pete

 

[DaleH]

Just interesting to me because ... I have not found a manual or electric pump I could easily install that could handle a say a four inch diameter hole in the lower hull area..................Pete

Me neither, that's why I have 3 in the stern and 2 up forward. 1 auto-pump both fore & aft and 1 each 'storm' pump fore & aft too.

The other (aft) is a livewell pump from the seacock that can intake water from the bilge by flipping a "Y"-valve from 'seacock' to 'bilge'.

Total capacity ~7500gph ... provided the OBs running !

 

[grouperjim]

i guess up north going in the water is a pretty serious issue given the water temps. in this area, if you are going in the drink, one of the most important things to do is note the GPS number (so you can navigate to the newest wreck in the Gulf at a later date), hit the EPIRB, then hope you got enough bait to last until the H-60 gets there. :wink:

 

[gw204]

The other (aft) is a livewell pump from the seacock that can intake water from the bilge by flipping a "Y"-valve from 'seacock' to 'bilge'.

Can do the same for the washdown pump and raw water intake for inboard and I/O engines for addl. emergency pumping capabilities.

 

[sparky]

i guess up north going in the water is a pretty serious issue given the water temps. in this area, if you are going in the drink, one of the most important things to do is note the GPS number (so you can navigate to the newest wreck in the Gulf at a later date), hit the EPIRB, then hope you got enough bait to last until the H-60 gets there. :wink:

Right now, if we were to go in without survival (gumby) suits, the average person would last 30-45 mins before they were unconscious, and maybe another 1-2 hours more before they died. Avg response times in the near-shore is under an hour, but 20-30 miles offshore, forget it.

We do some work off Nantucket, and the response time there is over 2 hours. Gumby suits and crash pumps are an absolute necessity.