Water Aboard

Part of my daily routine, is to turn on the bilge pump every morning and count-down the amount of time it takes to pump out any water that has accumulated overnight.

Most boats like this take on a certain amount of water... The drive shafts have a seal/packing that is water-lubricated, and designed to “drip” a bit (which underway becomes a bit more of a splash than a drip.) Similarly, the boat has LOTS of through-hull fittings for A/C (heat pump) intake/exhaust (times two.) Plus motor intakes (times two.) Plus toilet intakes/outflows (times two.) Etc., etc. Add to this some leaky decks for a 30-year old boat, and morning dew becomes water inflow, as does any rain and such.

The bilge pumps have “float switches” that cause the pumps to turn on automatically when the water level reaches a particular height/level/ (There is ALWAYS an inch or so of water in the hull. But, when it gets up to about 2 or 3 inches, the FIRST of THREE bilge (sump) pumps turn on. If that pump should fail, there are two additional pumps that engage at higher water/float levels (e.g. the next one kicks on at about 5-6 inches of water in the hull, and the final one kicks on at about 12 inches in the hull.

Each morning (and also each afternoon after a full day of cruising,) I turn the pump to the on (manual) position to force it to pump out any water in the bilge (as opposed to waiting for the float switch to rise high enough to engage.) I then count the seconds until it runs dry. “Norm” is about 45-60 seconds. Anything less is okay, anything more is an issue. But, ZERO water output is actually a BAD thing! Something should pump out – even a trickle/trace-few drops…

So, when NOTHING came out this morning, it meant that we had an issue with “pump number one” – our “primary” pump.

When I opened the hatch and lifted the bilge (basement) floorboards, I saw more than enough water to cause pump number one’s float switch to engage (but, fortunately, NOT enough to get pump number two to engage.)

I could also hear the pump BARELY trying to work – a slight hum from it’s electric motor.

I assumed that the old pump had died, and it was time to replace it. Fortunately, the marina that we spent the night at, had a mini ship store, and had two pumps to choose from. I bought one of them (the highest volume pump, to match the pumping capability of the one that had just died.)

After uninstalling the old pump, and reinstalling the new one – STILL no water was pumping out!!!

There is only one issue that can cause this: a clogged exhaust tube/hose.

The hose is about 1-inch in diameter, and the pump has input screens that are about ¼-inch diameter. So, in theory, nothing should be able to enter/pass the pump that won’t also EASILY clear through the hose.

I envisioned a snake or something crawling into the tube/hose from outside of the hull. Maybe a critter got stuck in there overnight? But, the tube is about six inches above the waterline. So, whatever critter it was, would have to be able to climb UP a slippery, inverted, 6-inch rise. (Thus, no small turtles, or fish, or baby ducks, frogs, etc.) Snake, snake, snake is the only thing that came to my mind…

Whatever was in there (be it critter or crud,) had to be cleared. I need my primary bilge pump!

On all of my previous boats, the hose from the bilge pump simply attached at the pump, and then ran (unobstructed) through the hull (via a through-hull flange/fitting – usually about a foot or so above the waterline – to prevent any potential water backflow/intrusion.) But, on THIS boat, someone had installed a check-valve (one-way valve) in the hose about one foot away from the pump. (This makes a LOT of sense, because the hose can hold quite a bit of water inside of it. So, when the pump disengages, water in the hose can back-flow back into the hull. So much water comes back, that the float switch reengages the pump. The pump then turns on, and re-fills the hose with the bilge water, and turns off. Then, backflow (again.) This pump & flow-back cycle can literally be endless (causing the pump to cycle on & off for hours, days, weeks – until the batteries latterly die, or the pump dies, and then any follow-on water can cause a flood. And, because the batteries are now dead, a second & third pump (backups) are of zero use, either (because they have no power.)

Hint: Always attach your backup pumps to a second/separate battery source/bank. In our case, the second pump is actually a 110v pump. So, it can be powered via shorepower or the generator. But, I do need to rewire pump number three to a separate battery source.

Back to our issue: I disconnected the one-way valve, and whatever was in the line, BLASTED out towards me! GROSS!!! I don’t really know WHAT was in there… I assume just an oily grease ball or something? Anyway, after the BLAST of CRUD at me, I reattached the new pump, and BINGO – water flow! So, I also reinstalled the old pump, and BINGO – water flow from it as well!!!! 

So, I reinstalled the original pump, and kept the new one as a spare.

We were already planning a lazy start to our Thursday. This little diversion added a few EXTRA hours to our delayed launch. It was about 1:30 pm before we finally left the docks today.

We cruised until sunset, and made it to the 73 mile marker (only about 50 miles.) This is kinda “par” for us. We attempt to average 100 miles per day. So, if we only cruise a half-day, we will only cover about 50 miles…

Here’s a hint as to how slowly we are moving: We have been able to tune-in to the SAME over-the-air television channel since we stopped just north of Cape Girardeau, MO on Sunday night. It’s now Thursday night, and we can STILL tune-in to weather channel 6.

We were watching the weather forecast tonight. They were calling for mostly sunny skies and mid-80s tomorrow/Friday, and then a chance of rain on Saturday and Sunday.

Kelly said, “that doesn’t apply to us, we will be out of there by then!”

I told Kelly, if we can receive the station’s signal, then we can receive their weather, too.


MORE water aboard:

We opened Kelly’s birthday present today. I had bought her an inflatable kiddie pool of sorts. Well, it’s not really a kiddie pool. It’s technically a sun lounger/tub. It can function as a raft to float in a pool, or it can be placed on shore and filled with water (like a little personal bathtub or wading pool.)

It took me about 30 minutes to blow the sucker up – manually, the OLD fashioned way – huffin’ and puffin’. We then placed it out on the bow of the boat, and partially-filled it with water.

I guess you can guess where Kelly spent the rest of the day… She is no longer standing watch at the helm. Now, she just lays in her tub and reads her books, and sips on a cool drink in the sunshine. She also has the hose handy (for a sprinkler-like shower as necessary.) I toss down a few chunks of ice from the cooler upon request, too.

I wonder if she’s going to let ME spend a day or two basking in her tanning tub, too?


Tonight (Thursday night) we found a PERFECT cove. There is a narrow pass from the main channel, into a large cove – and we are then on a smaller/secondary side cove. The water is calm and peaceful here, and the banks are deserted.

We can receive television signals here, but no cell phone or internet access. (Now THAT sounds like heaven to me!) ;-)

So, while we are writing this update on Thursday night, we won’t get to post it until we get back into cell phone range. (So, don’t panic, parents.)

We plan to hang-out in the cove for awhile tomorrow morning (another late start.) Ideally, I’d like to see us underway by around noon, and try to get about eight more hours (or 70-80 miles behind us on Friday.) Ditto for Saturday.

While are travels were short and slow today, we DID finally clear-out of Kentucky. Our little heavenly cove is just a few miles inside of Tennessee (Dover, TN.)

Kelly is planning to get her fishing line wet in the morning. We restrung her rod the other night. The fish were calling to her tonight, but it was too buggy for her.

This post is getting rather long, so I’ll close for now.

Check out our sunset pics. That’s what our view was like as we set anchors this evening. Then a quick BBQ of some burgers, while Kelly tossed together some homemade potato salad. We eat GOOD for liveaboard/cruising boaters!

Nite all.

Nick (& Kelly)
m/v Venture Out II