H34 Owners - Do You Have A Manual Bilge Pump

[Joe Mullee]

I was looking at a solo challenge sight. One of the requirements is to have a manual bilge pump installed that can be worked from the cockpit. Anyone done this in an H34 or similiar boat with very shallow bilge? Where did you mount the pump and how did you run the hoses?

Thanks,
Joe Mullee

 

[kloudie1]

Manual Bilge Pump

Joe, my previous owner did some long races in the boat and had installed one before I got the boat. The pump is mounted behind the side of the cockpit lower wall on the stbd side. The handle is removable and there is a rubber boot to seal the slot in that wall that is required for operation. The pump is a diaphragm model Whale Gusher.. The discharge is out the upper starboard transom. You can't see the pump in the attached picture, but that white hose at the top of the picture is the intake hose, running down to a strainer fitting in the bilge That picture is in the pit looking aft. I really don't have a good picture of that installation.. May get a chance to get one after Christmas..

 

[lnikl]

Mine has a manual bilge pump. The intake is located near the electric bilge pump intake and the pumpey bit is in the cockpit within reach. Would a boat pass survey without a manual pump?

 

[Joe Mullee]

Inikl,

Never heard of the need to have a manual bilge pump aboard for any regulatory or insurance requirement. It does however seem to be a requirement if you want to enter certain long distance or offshore solo races.

Where exactly is your pump located and where does the water exit the boat? It sounds like you are able to pump from the cockpit.

Thanks,
Joe Mullee

 

[lnikl]

Joe,
I don't know whether or not a boat would make survey without a manual pump but it seems that having something that is manual for something so important as maintaining displacement would be. Maybe there is a yacht surveyor who could let us know?
The manual pump mechanism for my pump is located along the starboard side of the T-shaped cockpit. The intake is from the same place as the electric bilge pump. Outlet is through a fitting on the side.
I don't actually use my manual bilge pump but I do know where it is and where I keep the pump handle in the unfortunate event that I would need to, just like my emergency tiller handle and those little wooden plugs that one uses in the event of through-hull failure.

 

[quadrille38]

I've never actually seen a boat without a manual pump. Even my first boat a 22 foot S2 had one.

I've heard old salts say that when it comes to bilge pumps there can never be enough. And they can never be big enough. If you think about it a 1200 gallon per hour pump is only 16 gallons per minute at its maximum and that is before you subtract for head loss. The head loss can easily be up to half of the pump capacity depending on how much head loss there is.

Just pull out the speedo some time and gauge how much water comes in that small hole. Imagine what it would be if something bigger punched a hole. And of you are holed and the battery pump runs so much it overheats or blows a fuse then what?

I have a 1500 gallon per hour primary
A whale gusher manual
And Hunter pre plumbed and wired for an optional high water pump that I'm going to install this summer. And for that I'm looking at a 4000 gallon per hour pump. That sounds huge but again that's only 67 gallons per minute at no head.

Oh and with your manual when you do get it installed you should periodically exercise it. There are moving parts that need to be kept free and a diaphragm that should be inspected. They will dry out over time and crack. And when they do they won't pump.


This months Cruising World had a great article on pumps of all types and it provides a good understanding of how they work, how they should be maintained, etc.

 

[Jackdaw]

If you have a shallow bilge, a very nice manual pump solution is to simply connect a long length of smooth hose to the pump, and leave it coiled somewhere inside the boat with easy access. Then you can run the tip to wherever on the boat you need it.

 

[Dan Johnson]

Manual bilge pump...

Joe, my H34 doesn't have a manual pump as such. I do carry a small one in the aft locker for emptying the bilge well.

My previous boat had a Whale Gusher as Kloudie mentioned. Did a great job of emptying a shallow bilge once the electric one hit dry.

Be sure to put a strainer end on the bilge hose if you do install one.