Deck wash on the cheap

Nov 8, 2010
11,386
Beneteau First 36.7 & 260 Minneapolis MN & Bayfield WI
The marina at Wayzata Yacht Club has electricity at the slips but not water. Normally not much of a problem - unless you want to wash your boat. For years I’ve been using a bucket attached to a painter, a laborious process. Last week I was in Harbor Freight and saw this little AC water transfer pump for $65. I didn’t buy it but later went online to look at it. The specs looked decent and the reviews were almost all five star. It comes with an intake hose and strainer, so all you have to do is hook up a cheap length of output hose. I’ve bought one and fired it up, and could not believe the amount of water the little sucker through off. Made washing the deck pleasure!

https://www.harborfreight.com/110-hp-transfer-pump-63317.html?_br_psugg_q=pump


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Mar 29, 2017
576
Hunter 30t 9805 littlecreek
Short term solution. But I'd try it for $65. If u signed up for coupon online you can get it for less than $50
 
Nov 21, 2007
631
Beneteau Oceanis 34 Kingston, WA
One of the items on my mental to-do list, is to find a DC powered pump to use for for washing down our anchor after we haul it up.
 
Nov 13, 2013
723
Catalina 34 Tacoma
I bought a similar one that runs on 12v from HF. Keep onboard as an auxiliary pump if the need ever arises. Good solution if you have no dockside water and lake full of fresh underneath you.
 
Jul 7, 2004
8,402
Hunter 30T Cheney, KS
You have cleaner water than us. We are on a watershed reservoir. It's brown :(

I always thought that those 20% HF coupons in Sail magazine are so out of place alongside those $$$ yacht photos.
 

AaronD

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Aug 10, 2014
723
Catalina 22 9874 Newberg, OR / Olympia, WA
I always thought that those 20% HF coupons in Sail magazine are so out of place alongside those $$$ yacht photos.
Not entirely - Sail gets advertising $$ from the yacht manufacturers and brokers, and subscription $$ from all of us broke sailors (who might also be HF customers). The publisher gets to capture revenue from both ends of the demand curve - Brilliant! :biggrin:
 
Dec 2, 1997
8,708
- - LIttle Rock
Get a bilge pump with a switch in the wiring, attach a hose with nozzle, drop it overboard. A friend of mine did that decades ago.
Several of my dockmates and did something similar when drought conditions created major boat washing restrictions: We bought a Jabsco Water Puppy washdown pump, several feet of hose and a golf cart battery ...took turns taking our boats out to the main channel of the lake (Lanier, north of Atlanta) where the water was clean to wash 'em with lake water.
--Peggie
 
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Jun 14, 2010
2,081
Robertson & Caine 2017 Leopard 40 CT
One of the items on my mental to-do list, is to find a DC powered pump to use for for washing down our anchor after we haul it up.
Brilliant (as the British use the term).
I installed an anchor washdown pump, but it required adding a thru hull and associated plumbing and wiring. Your approach makes sense if you only need it a few times per year, but otherwise my installation wasn’t expensive nor beyond the abilities of most DIY boaters. You can also buy a proper washdown pump and create a temporary setup until you get around to adding the thru hull and seacock.
 
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Feb 8, 2014
1,300
Columbia 36 Muskegon
I tee'd my washdown pump into the head intake. Location was convenient and I didn't have to bore another hole. Maybe can't flush the head and wash the deck at the same time, but what's the likelyhood of wanting to?
 
Apr 27, 2010
1,236
Hunter 23 Lake Wallenpaupack
I bought a 12v washdown kit that is basically a small pump on a frame, an intake hose, and a coiled output hose with a quick coupler and spray nozzle. Comes wired with pretty long power cord with cigarette lighter plug. I think it was on eBay for about $25 or 30. I feed the intake from a bucket as it won't reach the lake from the cockpit. It has enough power for rinsing, but would not blast off tough dirt.