bilge pump capacity

Dec 13, 2006
64
Beneteau 323 Milwaukee
My boat is on the cradle/covered for the winter(wisconsin), not going up to it with polar vortex and minus 8 degrees. Just thinking about sailing and waiting for spring. Never gave it much thought before but began wondering about the manual bilge pump on my beneteau 323(2005). In the cockpit on the starboard side within reach of the helmsman is a port for the handle for the manual(not electric, hand pumped) bilge pump. It works well(I test it each spring pumping a bucket of water from the bilge). I never climbed in the locker though and looked to see what brand and model it was or the pumping capacity. Do any of the beneteau 323 owners out there know? I plan this spring to climb in and see what pump is there. I think I might this spring see how fast I can pump water(measure actual capacity). Thanks
 

capta

.
Jun 4, 2009
4,946
Pearson 530 Admiralty Bay, Bequia SVG
Here's a good guide to how much you may need to have to dewater your boat.
water intrusion rates.PNG
 
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jssailem

SBO Weather and Forecasting Forum Jim & John
Oct 22, 2014
23,250
CAL 35 Cruiser #21 moored EVERETT WA
I never climbed in the locker though and looked to see what brand and model
Not sure what brand Beneteau installs.
One popular brand is the Whale Pump.
Gusher Titan

Gusher Titan
Robust and lightweight polypropylene manual bilge pump range
  • High flow rate: 105 ltrs (28 US gals) per minute
BP4410Whale Gusher Titan - thru- deck/ BulkheadUnderdeckPolypropylene
 
Oct 29, 2005
2,362
Hunter Marine 326 303 Singapore
I was told nothing beats a man with a bucket on a sinking boat. Is it true? ;)
 

capta

.
Jun 4, 2009
4,946
Pearson 530 Admiralty Bay, Bequia SVG
I was told nothing beats a man with a bucket on a sinking boat. Is it true? ;)
We did a bucket line for 22 hours straight in a hurricane. And that was just to get the water low enough to unplug the pumps, which had fouled from the canned food labels.
I began cruising varnishing the cans for just such an eventuality, but got lazy as the years progressed. By the way, my wife wasn't too shabby at it either.
 
Last edited:
Oct 26, 2008
6,295
Catalina 320 Barnegat, NJ
I was told nothing beats a man with a bucket on a sinking boat. Is it true? ;)
I know that's a joke, but one man with a bucket would not last long and the boat would have to be nearly sunk before you can actually fill a bucket and discharge it overboard effectively. I'd take the gusher pump every time for removing water from the bilge.
 
Jul 7, 2004
8,496
Hunter 30T Cheney, KS
Not relevant to the OP's question, but the "man with a bucket" gave me flashbacks.
I had that problem at home during a huge rain. We lost power and water was dumping into my sump basket so fast I couldn't stop bailing long enough to go out to my garage and start my generator. After that episode I installed a city water driven backup pump.
 
Dec 13, 2006
64
Beneteau 323 Milwaukee
Thanks Capta for the table. A 2 inch hole 3 feet below the water line allow 139 gallons per minute. I went on beneteau spare parts and found in the archives the pump on my boat. Couldn't find the brand but saw on the back of it the pump per stroke was 0.7 liters. Did a little math and metric conversion and at 60 strokes per minute that is about 10 gallons per minute I could pump. The whale gusher urchin is 14.5 gallons per minute and the titan at 70 strokes per minute is 28 gallons per minute. A submersible 12 volt pump that could be hooked up to a battery quickly( has clamps not plug), that pumps 1380 gallons per hour would pump 23 gallons per minute. I guess the moral of the story is try not to get a hole below the water line and if you do find it and stop or slow the leak quickly. Thanks for the replies and I agree the man with a bucket is after a few minutes going to be a wet and tired man with a bucket.
 
May 11, 2015
27
Beneteau 323 Sakonnet, RI
I was told nothing beats a man with a bucket on a sinking boat. Is it true? ;)
I have keep a strainer that fits on the end of my raw water intake hose. The one time I used my raw water pump to pump out my fresh water after a hose let go on my fresh water holding tank, it worked.
Still needed a good sponge