Manuel bilge pumps

[bffatcat]

On my boat the bilge is over the keel. and the area is raised with gutters on either side of the keel. Both gutters are under the cabin sole and the only way I can get at them is with a sponge I slide under the cabin sole. My rule hand held bilge pump will not fit there This is a slow tedious job. Anyone have any ideas about some kind of flexible manuel bilge pump or adaptor that will fit under the cabie sole I cannot use an electric bilge pump my boat has no
battery.

 

[John T1594]

You might try to add a piece of tubing to the end of your Rule manual pump. You can probably get up enough suction to get the water out. On some of the larger boats, there is an emergency manual bilge pump mounted in the cockpit with a long hose that extends down into the lower recesses of the bilge and that seems to work fine.

 

[CalebD]

Wouldn't something like this work for you? http://www.defender.com/product.jsp?path=-1|51|299222|84462|316440&id=157501
It claims to have a maximum priming height of 13' and the 'sucking' end of the hose could be routed to your hard to reach bilge.

 

[Sandy Stone]

Years ago I had a Pearson 26OD, which is pretty much the same boat as yours. On my boat, the lowest spot in the bilge where the water would collect was behind the keel, roughly underneath the companionway steps. I finally got around to installing a through-the-bulkhead mount manual diaphragm pump in the cockpit, with the suction hose leading to a bronze pickup strainer at that low spot. With that rig, I could get all but the last 1/8" of water out.

 

[Ross]

I have a Guzzler diaphragm pump that I fitted with a piece of flexible tubing. I can reach into half inch wide six inch deep spaces and dry them out.

 

[Cool Beans]

. . .I use a shop vac, one of the little 2 gallon ones. . .takes seconds, and is nearly bone dry when I'm done :dance: I did the sponge thing the first couple times, then got the shop vac on sale. it does double duty as a general vacuum for cleaning up when I'm working