Locating/relocating manual bilge pump

[ILikeRust]

I have a 1968 Pearson Wanderer 30.

The previous owner told me the manual bilge pump originally was up in the cockpit and he didn't like it up there, so he relocated it to the bulkhead just in front of the engine (i.e., right next to the companionway ladder down in the cabin). But he never finished hooking it up - he just attached the pump body to the bulkhead. The hoses are in a sack in the lazarette.

The surveyor recommended that I relocate the pump back up to the cockpit so that it's more easily accessible in an emergency - so we wouldn't have to have someone jump down into the cabin to pump.

I don't know where the pump originally was located. I would prefer not to have it in the cockpit, because there's enough stuff there as it is. Anybody know where it would have been located originally, or have a good idea as to where would be a good place to mount it?

Thanks

[Chris Campbell]

I don't know where it was originally, but that won't stop me from replying with a couple of opinions.

My belief is that you should have, in addition to your electric bilge pump, at least two manual ones, one inside the cabin and one outside, in the cockpit. Cockpit mounted pumps are usually in a locker or under the deck with the handle attaching either through a sealable opening or into a water-tight receptacle that the pump is usually sold with. The reason for having two is that if you're out in really rough weather it may not be desirable to be in the cockpit to pump, so having one inside is useful, and in the worst-case scenario you may want two to add capacity to the pumping (although of course the worst-case scenario usually leads to the ultimate bilge pump - a scared person with a bucket!).

So that's my going-in position on bilge pumps.

That said, there is always another option, and one that I've carried on all my boats, and that is a bilge pump on a piece of plywood that you can place anywhere, with hoses that will reach to the bilge water from where you are and overboard (or the sink, or cockpit, if they're not already awash), and let you pump anything from anywhere. This pump can be stowed where its accessible, and used for any number of contingencies. I've always had one of these in addition to one or two permanently mounted pumps, and find that they're more useful than you'd expect. There is sometimes water in an out of the way place that you'd like to get rid of that your bottom-of-the-bilge pumps aren't useful for...

There - no answer to your question, but a post full of opinion!

[Hulukupu]

I'd like to echo Chris's thoughts about having two manual pumps. I got a second one this summer for the cabin to augment one that is mounted in my port cockpit locker. It is mounted in the V-berth so that it could double as a wash-down pump for the anchor/rode. The pump in my cockpit locker requires that one open the cockpit locker lid to use it- not a good arrangement, I think. Others here have used a bulkhead mount that allows someone in the cockpit to pump without opening a locker- a better set-up, but not what my Triton came configured with.
David

[Hirilondë]

My belief is that you should have, in addition to your electric bilge pump, at least two manual ones, one inside the cabin and one outside, in the cockpit.

This is the requirement for the Newport-Bermuda Race and many other off-shore races. Some would consider it over kill on a coastal cruising boat. You have to draw your own conclusion here. Any easily accessible location that has room to operate (pump) it is fine. Mine is down below under the sink which is facing aft where the engine would be if I had one. I just open the door to the storage area, insert the handle and pump. I don't really see the need for a second one in the cockpit. If I am soloing, and taking on water, I am abandoning ship anyway.

[Tim]

I have a manual pump located in the cockpit, but in 10 years I've yet to ever use it. It's there if needed, but my electric pump takes care of the minimal nuisance water in the bilge.

I wouldn't be without a manual pump, but I don't think it matters so much where you put the pump control unless you're looking to meet offshore racing requirements. The suction's in the same place regardless. Put the pump control where it's convenient to use for how you plan to use the boat, and where it makes sense in terms of running the associated plumbing.

[Duncan]

... I would prefer not to have it in the cockpit, because there's enough stuff there as it is. Anybody know where it would have been located originally, or have a good idea as to where would be a good place to mount it?...

I believe that most cockpit-mounted bilge pumps have reversible mounts, which enable them to be "flush-mounted" through a cutout in the side of a cockpit locker. The handle is detachable, so the pump doesn't take up space in the cockpit.

[Hirilondë]

I believe that most cockpit-mounted bilge pumps have reversible mounts, which enable them to be "flush-mounted" through a cutout in the side of a cockpit locker. The handle is detachable, so the pump doesn't take up space in the cockpit.

If I felt the need for a cockpit bilge pump this is how I would choose to do it. The handle stores in a bracket that can be mounted inside the locker or any convenient place, accessible, but out of the way.

Regardless of whether you like down below, or in the cockpit there are clever ways to install manual bilge pumps. Two key criteria to me are out of the way yet situated such that pumping can be done efficiently in a comfortable posture. All too often I see them located such that the act of pumping would be painful or tiring.