Stern Connector for Wash Down Pump

[Howler]

On recent Beneteau Oceanis models such as the 41.1, the wash down pump connector is in the stern. In our case, it's mostly used to wash off anchor mud at the the bow.

What was the logic for putting the connector in the stern?

Any ideas for a setup that avoids hauling the hose forward?

Has anyone tried one of those expandable hoses? Seems they'd be easier to haul forward and aft without all the kinks and twists of a normal hose. And they're a lot lighter.

[tkeithlu]

Bringing it forward would involve threading a lot of hose through tight places and installing a faucet. Yes, we use an expandable hose on our foredeck and on our porch. It is an advantage, because in both cases the hose, being much more flexible than an ordinary garden hose, fits easily in a bucket. The only down side is that the expandable hose is not as durable as an ordinary hose. We do not leave the expandable hose on the foredeck - its bucket comes into the wheelhouse and hides under the nav table. A quick connect on the foredeck faucet helps.

[Bill O]

Dragging a hose forward would be the easiest way to remedy the problem. Would use a hard coiled hose rather than a expanding hose to maintain full pressure forward. Have seen a diy PVC pipe attached to a stanchion used as a holder for the coiled hose inside the pipe.

My question would be does this stern wash down provide enough pressure to wash the anchor/chain well enough?
Usually a stern wash down is for rinsing off for a salt water shower and not enough pressure to get quickly mud out of the anchor chain. We installed a separate 70psi wash down pump in the bow for the anchor.

[Howler]

Thanks both for the feedback. Will try the expandable hose first since we already have one at home. If that doesn't work, the hard-coiled solutions is also an interesting idea.

And to answer your question, the pump actually does a pretty good job of pushing sufficient water pressure all the way forward. It's not a power wash, but it gets a fair amount of Lake Ontario bottom gunk (mud, clay, lake weed, etc.) off.

[waterman46]

If you anchor only a few times each year, go ahead and use the hose. We anchored in mud a lot, so I installed a pressure wash pump forward with a hose bib on deck. Water inlet to the pump is simply teed off the forward head inlet. A short hose just lives up on the bow and is coiled around the windlass or laid lengthwise along the toerail when not in use. Power for the pump is taken from the windlass circuit so it's all shut down when you turn off the windlass. Such a system is not difficult to install and you'll avoid dealing with the very long hose each time you raise anchor. And one thing less to deal with after raising anchor, when we are usually busy with navigation and other issues.

[Howler]

Originally Posted by waterman46

If you anchor only a few times each year, go ahead and use the hose. We anchored in mud a lot, so I installed a pressure wash pump forward with a hose bib on deck. Water inlet to the pump is simply teed off the forward head inlet. A short hose just lives up on the bow and is coiled around the windlass or laid lengthwise along the toerail when not in use. Power for the pump is taken from the windlass circuit so it's all shut down when you turn off the windlass. Such a system is not difficult to install and you'll avoid dealing with the very long hose each time you raise anchor. And one thing less to deal with after raising anchor, when we are usually busy with navigation and other issues.

Nice setup but we only have one head much further aft. I actually toyed with a portable wash down pump from a YouTube design. Intake is a weighted hose hanging overboard so no need to cut a through-hull. Right now I use a rechargeable Lithium battery but it’s still a lot of gear so I like your idea about tapping the windlass circuit. Engine’s always on as we leave anchorage so that’s not a concern. As I’m better with plumbing than electricity, any additional detail on how you tapped into the circuit would be appreciated. Thanks!

[waterman46]

How to wire the forward pressure pump? Depends a lot on how your windlass is wired up. Windlass will usually have a button on deck that you will press with your foot to activate it. The circuit that supplies power to that switch is often activated by another switch either in the cockpit or at a panel near the nav station. For sake of discussion let's call the aft switch the 'windlass circuit switch' as opposed to the deck switch. Assuming that is the case on your boat, all you need to do to power up the pump is connect the pump positive wire to the same wire that goes to the hot side of the deck switch and the pump negative wire to the windlass ground.

If there is no button on deck and you can only control the windlass with a wireless remote, then there should be a remote receiver somewhere (hopefully up forward) that only gets power when the 'windlass circuit switch' is on. That's what you have to find,and connect the pump wires there.

The pressure pumps have their own built-in switch that will stop them whenever they are able to build up sufficient pressure against a closed valve or hose nozzle.

I hope you can find a way to snake a water hose forward from the aft head intake. I bet on some boats that may be difficult.

[Wrstein]

We used one pump to run two deck outlets, one forward for anchor washing and another aft for showering/clean up. Maybe we were lucky but running the hose forward wasn’t too difficult. Ran a Y-valve at the pump intake so we could select between salt water for washdown and fresh water for shower final rinse-off. The boat is used as a ChesBay weekend cruiser, so not too worried about excessive fresh water usage. It can take a while to initially build pressure but after that it works great.