Emergency Pumping

[psneeld]

Originally Posted by C4 King Cobra

I carry a basic electrical pump with 1" discharge hose from Home depot. Connect it to aux. generator and you have all the pump you need. Does not run your batteries down and pumps a lot of water.

This is a dream...in an emergency you need 10-20 times that capacity...you need the water down quickly uch of the time just to see where it's coming in.

A good gas/diesel trash pump is the only REAL good insurance...I'm in the salvage business...so I see it 20-30 times a year what's really needed. AND I will be installing one on my trawler very soon.

As far as watertight compartments...you don't have to seal off a whole compartment...just above the waterline to the point where one flooded compartment won't sink you deep enough that spillover is uncontrollable. Plus early warning in those compartments will tip you off early enough to get the job done and it helps isolate where the leak is.

[swagman]

Originally Posted by psneeld

This is a dream...in an emergency you need 10-20 times that capacity...you need the water down quickly uch of the time just to see where it's coming in.

A good gas/diesel trash pump is the only REAL good insurance...I'm in the salvage business...so I see it 20-30 times a year what's really needed. AND I will be installing one on my trawler very soon.

As far as watertight compartments...you don't have to seal off a whole compartment...just above the waterline to the point where one flooded compartment won't sink you deep enough that spillover is uncontrollable. Plus early warning in those compartments will tip you off early enough to get the job done and it helps isolate where the leak is.

Isn't it all a dream, or possibly a nightmare......
Reality is that if you maintain your boat as you should checking all skin fittings regularly, the chance of you ever needing such a high volume pump is so far off the scale that you'd be better investing the money in other gear. IMHO of course.
JOHN

[marshmat]

Step 1 - Get something over or in the hole, quickly. A sail, cushion, whatever- just slow the flow somehow. No pump that fits on board will cope with a major hull breach!
Step 2 - Start getting the water out so you can reach and stem the leak.

A 10,000 GPH gas powered emergency pump can easily be found for $200 to $350 (CDN/USD). A failed 2" seacock, three feet down, won't keep up with this pump.

A 25,000 GPH model starts at about $500, and will clear the bilge with a 3" through-hull broken off three to five feet down.

If you have hydraulics and trust your main engine, similar flow rates can be obtained with an industrial/agricultural pump like a Pacer S-series coupled to a hydraulic motor. Or if you want a fully independent diesel pump, couple one of these to a $600 air-cooled 10 hp diesel.

Any of these pumps have flow and pressure good enough for effective fire-fighting. They're also great for wash-down, special events (welcoming foreign boats, etc.), dealing with charterers who anchor too close, etc.

Yes, you have to add suction and discharge lines to those costs. But it's still pretty cheap compared to what some folks spend on furling gear, nav computers, wind turbines and other useful cruising gear.

(Of course, it's best to keep the hull intact, the seacocks working, and have watertight bulkheads in the high-risk areas- but the thread's about emergency pumping, i.e. what to do when all that prevention still isn't enough. The priority must be to find and fill the hole, by whatever means necessary- the pump's immediate purpose is to stop the boat from sinking while you do that.)

[psneeld]

Originally Posted by swagman

Isn't it all a dream, or possibly a nightmare......
Reality is that if you maintain your boat as you should checking all skin fittings regularly, the chance of you ever needing such a high volume pump is so far off the scale that you'd be better investing the money in other gear. IMHO of course.
JOHN

After 20 years of USCG rescue operations and another 9 in salvage ops...it's not just skin fittings that can do you in....

Far off the scale??? That's OK if it's the oher guy...if it's your boat...there's not enough pumping capacity on the planet to satisfy me...

[Seahunter]

Hit a 2' deadhead on end 30' deep in the PNW and it won't matter what kind of pumps you have. However, we added a dedicated circuit off the genset (which sits 24" above the main) that supplies power to a 110VAC 25000GPH pump. As for thru-hull failures, like anything, maintenance is the key. Check bonding, color, clamps, sound and function regularly and never force a frozen fitting.

[vintageray]

Good stuff on this thread. I'm pretty impressed by the mechanical pump that mounts on the propeller shaft and starts to work when it's submerged. Super high volume and no surprises looking down into your cabin and seeing water where wood should be while motoring. Had a link, but it's on my other computer and that one's OOC.

[thinwater]

I think we reject bulkheads out-of-hand, but there is no other real answer.

• The Titanic's bulkheads eventually failed, true, but I bet she'd have lost ALL hands without them. It would have been 15 minutes, not hours.
• Collision mats are fine, in fair weather and if the hole is of a convenient shape.
• Bulkheads are well proven on race boats and warships.
• Bulkheads may be inconvenient, but not impracticable. I've seen many very good installations. In many cases they are not apparent, until you look closely. I had a valve failure once and I didn't even bother to fix it until the boat was hauled in the few weeks.

Pumps, even very large ones, are for nicks but not real holes.

[AllezCat]

Originally Posted by Seahunter

Hit a 2' deadhead on end 30' deep in the PNW and it won't matter what kind of pumps you have. However, we added a dedicated circuit off the genset (which sits 24" above the main) that supplies power to a 110VAC 25000GPH pump. As for thru-hull failures, like anything, maintenance is the key. Check bonding, color, clamps, sound and function regularly and never force a frozen fitting.

Sounds like what I am for.
Any model number/etc?

[psneeld]

Originally Posted by thinwater

I think we reject bulkheads out-of-hand, but there is no other real answer.

• The Titanic's bulkheads eventually failed, true, but I bet she'd have lost ALL hands without them. It would have been 15 minutes, not hours.
• Collision mats are fine, in fair weather and if the hole is of a convenient shape.
• Bulkheads are well proven on race boats and warships.
• Bulkheads may be inconvenient, but not impracticable. I've seen many very good installations. In many cases they are not apparent, until you look closely. I had a valve failure once and I didn't even bother to fix it until the boat was hauled in the few weeks.

Pumps, even very large ones, are for nicks but not real holes.

Holes are/should be stuffed...the pumps are for what's left coming in....and it can still be a lot....