Extra Bilge Pump

Captain of the Double G's

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Jun 29, 2026
Messages
116
I always have an extra bilge pump with the alligator clips and extra wire.
I know others have probably mentioned it before but this is a reminder.
Sometimes I bring it along on friends boats or when on a different vessel, its cheap insurance
 

dingbat

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Nov 20, 2001
Messages
17,281
I always have an extra bilge pump with the alligator clips and extra wire.
I know others have probably mentioned it before but this is a reminder.
Sometimes I bring it along on friends boats or when on a different vessel, its cheap insurance
An exercise in futility….

A portable bilge pump is not going to keep with a hull breech. If push comes to shove, time would be better spent sending a DSC and preparing the crew to abandon ship.
 

Captain of the Double G's

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Jun 29, 2026
Messages
116
The obvious question…why carry a wired bilge pump and length of hose around in your dry bag when you could simply install the pump in the hull proper and call it good?
OK, truth be told is I have probably been watching too many marine salvage videos instead of messing with my boats. :)
 

arks

Lieutenant Commander
Joined
Nov 7, 2002
Messages
1,969
It certainly doesn’t hurt to have an 12V emergency pump available.
I’ve had one in a marked tote bag in my cockpit for 20 years, and it’s been used twice. All my slip neighbors know it’s there, and one night one of them got a call from another who hit something a mile away and had developed a bad leak on his 30 footer. Even though I wasn’t aboard, he grabbed my pump and took off to help. My pump (along with the built-in pump aboard) worked well enough to get him to the slip, where they got a big 120V sump pump that got most of it out quick. Whatever he hit bent one of his inboard shaft struts, causing it to leak into the hull. He hauled it the next day and had it- and his hull- fixed.
 

alldodge

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Staff member
Joined
Mar 8, 2009
Messages
44,362
For years I wanted to setup the same thing but for a different reason. If it gets real hot and stays that way with no rain the fresh water lake gets so warm it's like taking a warm bath. So I thought about hooking up a bilge pump and about 15 ft of hose to pump cooler water up to the top. Never done it and with all the rain we get off/on it's not an issue this year
 

Captain of the Double G's

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Jun 29, 2026
Messages
116
It certainly doesn’t hurt to have an 12V emergency pump available.
I’ve had one in a marked tote bag in my cockpit for 20 years, and it’s been used twice. All my slip neighbors know it’s there, and one night one of them got a call from another who hit something a mile away and had developed a bad leak on his 30 footer. Even though I wasn’t aboard, he grabbed my pump and took off to help. My pump (along with the built-in pump aboard) worked well enough to get him to the slip, where they got a big 120V sump pump that got most of it out quick. Whatever he hit bent one of his inboard shaft struts, causing it to leak into the hull. He hauled it the next day and had it- and his hull- fixed.
so you may have saved a life
 

roscoe

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Oct 30, 2002
Messages
21,948
I have two installed in my 16'. Learned my lesson when I sunk my 18' at the dock in an all night storm.

One is hooked up to the main battery via a switch on the dash.
The other is on a float switch connected to the house battery.

The secondary pump worked well and kept the boat empty when a freak thunderstorm hit. It only rained for 4 hours, but got 5+" of rain. The winds hit 44 mph and 25 sustained for hours. Boat was stuck on the dock for 18 hours before we could get it on the trailer. Had 3' waves for a while, then 2'ers for 8 hours.

Video from the next day AFTER the waves calmed down.

You should have seen her bouncing in the middle of the night.
Resort owners thought it might end up on top of the dock, as that's happened before, to a nice Ranger bass boat.

View attachment IMG_0240.mov
 
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froggy1150

Ensign
Joined
Nov 3, 2017
Messages
902
I run 2. A small 5/8ths and a larger 3/4 outlet (500/1200 gpm) i think. The small one turns on first for normal usage and the bigger one is backup cuz I have a omc with the big 2' square rubber seal.
 

redneck joe

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Mar 18, 2009
Messages
15,792
For years I wanted to setup the same thing but for a different reason. If it gets real hot and stays that way with no rain the fresh water lake gets so warm it's like taking a warm bath. So I thought about hooking up a bilge pump and about 15 ft of hose to pump cooler water up to the top. Never done it and with all the rain we get off/on it's not an issue this year
dad hooked up an poum and kept a hose long enough to drop about 6 foot and the other to reach all the boat. We would do a washdown before pulling the boat out or during the camping trip.
 

Mc Tool

Lieutenant Commander
Joined
Aug 7, 2024
Messages
1,756
dad hooked up an poum and kept a hose long enough to drop about 6 foot and the other to reach all the boat. We would do a washdown before pulling the boat out or during the camping trip.
Yeah and for hosing all the blood and scraps into the bilge so the bilge pump can dump it over the side ....then just chuck the bigger bits over the side .
 

Mc Tool

Lieutenant Commander
Joined
Aug 7, 2024
Messages
1,756
I always have an extra bilge pump with the alligator clips and extra wire.
I know others have probably mentioned it before but this is a reminder.
Sometimes I bring it along on friends boats or when on a different vessel, its cheap insurance
You'd be better off with one of them disposable ally turkey roasting dishes 🙂
 

dingbat

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Nov 20, 2001
Messages
17,281
Yeah and for hosing all the blood and scraps into the bilge so the bilge pump can dump it over the side ....
Missed 1/2 box of squid in the bait well on day. Found it the next weekend…
I bet putrified squid stuck in the screen in the base of the bilge pump would smell just as good after a week or so…lol

First accessory I installed was a 4 gpm, 60 psi washdown system. Hooked up to a cockpit shower and a 25’ washdown hose. Blood and guts get hosed out the scuppers
 

Mc Tool

Lieutenant Commander
Joined
Aug 7, 2024
Messages
1,756
Missed 1/2 box of squid in the bait well on day. Found it the next weekend…
I bet putrified squid stuck in the screen in the base of the bilge pump would smell just as good after a week or so…lol

First accessory I installed was a 4 gpm, 60 psi washdown system. Hooked up to a cockpit shower and a 25’ washdown hose. Blood and guts get hosed out the scuppers
Huh , I dont have scuppers and Im pleased about that coz everything I own would fall out them .....cept my fish coz they are way to big to fit out scuppers 😆
I wonder how they got to be called scuppers. I have often heard that something got "scuppered"....usually a plan or that something "put the scuppers on that " when whatever it was wentt its up 😁
 
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