As most of you know the bilge of a sailboat is the space in the lowest parts of the sailing vessel. For many, the bilge is considered the space under the floorboards. The bilge is mostly empty but it may contain a number of things including wires from here or there to somewhere, various through hulls, propeller shaft, storage, etc.
Most bilges have one or more pumps to assist in the removal of unwanted water that finds its way into the bilge in one way or another. It could be a leaky or broken through hull seacock, penetration of the hull, or water ingress through the mast or a hatch, etc.
The pumps may be automatic, in which case they are usually electronic, wired to the house battery system, functional only when a water level trips a sensor or when tested by activating from a circuit board. The advantage here is that a pump can remove water while the crew is away from the vessel, or when the crew may be busy identifying and resolving the cause of a leak while underway.
Some pumps are manual and require human action to operate the pump to remove water. These would pull a crew member from other important responsibilities while underway. Further, there is no safeguard against sinking if water ingress occurs at the dock while underway.
With Skiron, both types of pumps were present on the vessel. In the case of Lapis, there are only two hand operated manual pumps installed. I may remedy that situation and install an automatic pump as well.
On Skiron, I once developed a significant leak as the Knotmeter was jammed open and I could not close the through hull at the dock. The water ingress was sufficient. I used the automatic bilge pump to keep it under control. I did not, however, want that much water in the bilge. I took the boat to the yard who could not haul it late that afternoon. They loaned me a submersible pump for the fore part of the bilge and I was able to rest the main automatic pump and keep water Ingress under control. Of course, I slept on the vessel and did regular checks to ensure the situation was under control. I honestly cannot imagine having been required to hand pump all night long to have kept the vessel afloat.
With Lapis, my initial inspection revealed there had been a significant water level in the bilge at some point. There was a gallon or so of water in the lowest part of the vessel. The mail bilge pump would not evacuate the water. It seemed to be a potentially dangerous situation. On further inspection of the actual pump, I note there was a 7mm long cut in the intake hose just before it was clamped to the pump intake. Also, the pump inflow and outflow metal parts seemed corroded. I decided to disassemble the unit and replace the pipes adjacent to the pump, one of the two elbows, and the pump itself. It works like a charm. It cleared five gallons of freshwater that I poured into the bilge in no time at all. No leaks! Still, I must seriously consider adding a redundant automatic back up pump. There is no substitute for a good back up plan.
Sailing Ruby 