Hello all,
I did some searching on the topic but I couldn't really find what I was wondering about, so here goes.
We recently purchased our first boat, a Universal Marine Montego 25. It is a 1983 model, and has an outboard though it looks like it had an option for an inboard diesel.
Anyway it's a great boat and we've been having fun with it. However, it does not have a bilge pump and this is required in order to pass the inspection to move into a different marina nearby, and really I feel the boat should have one. Fortunately it is a very dry boat and it looks like it always has been.
It has a kind of tub as far as I can tell, that comprises the interior walls, settees, etc. In the salon floor, there is a little rectangular bit that lifts out to reveal what appears to be some sort of cement or resin that must encase the keel bolts. I can't tell really because it's hard as a rock and there isn't a lot of information out there about this manufacturer or this model in particular.
Anyway I thought I'd post a picture because that will help to describe it better. In the picture, I've tried to illustrate the individual compartments where water could potentially accumulate, due to the "tub" design and the fact that the salon floor and the settee's lower access doors would eventually run over into the lower areas in the boat. In the storage areas, I've noticed that some of the bulkheads between compartments necessarily have holes drilled through them for water lines or wiring, but not all are connected this way. Is it advisable to drill more holes in the bulkheads, which would allow for water to drain through and eventually out to the bilge pump?
I am thinking of putting the bilge pump in the aft part of the boat, because there is what looks to be a low-lying area that would be where water would gather, eventually.
It's all tough to describe, but basically there is no bilge to speak of, and so there is no good place for a bilge pump. In order to pass the inspection I will probably have to have it in the aft area, near the bit in green in my picture. I wonder if they will ask for another in the area beneath the V-berth, since there are a couple of through hulls there (I believe for the depth sounder and the speedometer paddle but I am not completely sure. The sink in the head's is also nearby). I've read that the whole point of a bilge pump is to remove rainwater and seepage and not to keep the boat afloat in the even of a dramatic flooding, so that makes me feel better about the location decision.
The areas I've shown in red are the compartments. Where the bulkhead is between the salon and the head there is about a five inch rise on the floor, similarly in the after section where the hatch is to the "engine bay" beneath the up-and-out ladder, which I drew in in blue (also on the image above). The green parts are probably the lowest parts of the hull's interior - the floor hatch above the cemented-in keel, and this small tubular structural piece near the transom in the back.
Any thoughts welcome ...
I did some searching on the topic but I couldn't really find what I was wondering about, so here goes.
We recently purchased our first boat, a Universal Marine Montego 25. It is a 1983 model, and has an outboard though it looks like it had an option for an inboard diesel.
Anyway it's a great boat and we've been having fun with it. However, it does not have a bilge pump and this is required in order to pass the inspection to move into a different marina nearby, and really I feel the boat should have one. Fortunately it is a very dry boat and it looks like it always has been.
It has a kind of tub as far as I can tell, that comprises the interior walls, settees, etc. In the salon floor, there is a little rectangular bit that lifts out to reveal what appears to be some sort of cement or resin that must encase the keel bolts. I can't tell really because it's hard as a rock and there isn't a lot of information out there about this manufacturer or this model in particular.
Anyway I thought I'd post a picture because that will help to describe it better. In the picture, I've tried to illustrate the individual compartments where water could potentially accumulate, due to the "tub" design and the fact that the salon floor and the settee's lower access doors would eventually run over into the lower areas in the boat. In the storage areas, I've noticed that some of the bulkheads between compartments necessarily have holes drilled through them for water lines or wiring, but not all are connected this way. Is it advisable to drill more holes in the bulkheads, which would allow for water to drain through and eventually out to the bilge pump?
I am thinking of putting the bilge pump in the aft part of the boat, because there is what looks to be a low-lying area that would be where water would gather, eventually.
It's all tough to describe, but basically there is no bilge to speak of, and so there is no good place for a bilge pump. In order to pass the inspection I will probably have to have it in the aft area, near the bit in green in my picture. I wonder if they will ask for another in the area beneath the V-berth, since there are a couple of through hulls there (I believe for the depth sounder and the speedometer paddle but I am not completely sure. The sink in the head's is also nearby). I've read that the whole point of a bilge pump is to remove rainwater and seepage and not to keep the boat afloat in the even of a dramatic flooding, so that makes me feel better about the location decision.
The areas I've shown in red are the compartments. Where the bulkhead is between the salon and the head there is about a five inch rise on the floor, similarly in the after section where the hatch is to the "engine bay" beneath the up-and-out ladder, which I drew in in blue (also on the image above). The green parts are probably the lowest parts of the hull's interior - the floor hatch above the cemented-in keel, and this small tubular structural piece near the transom in the back.
Any thoughts welcome ...
