A fellow club member with a C&C 41 was doing a trip from Halifax, N.S.
to St. John's, Newfoundland.....at 2 a.m. an off-watch crew member heard
the electric bilge pump running and wouldn't stop....the water kept
coming into the bilge and they didn't know where it was coming
from.....all hands are now awake searching every possible thru hull,
valve, etc looking for the source of the water....no luck and they are
getting very nervous.....everyone puts on a PFD and the life raft is
untied just in case.
There is a following sea....finally one of the crew realizes the water
is coming in from the hose of the manual pump.....with the following
sea, the water started siphoning into the boat through the manual bilge
pump hose. They cut the hose where it runs aft in the lazaret and put a
wooden plug is the back end. No more manual bilge pump for the rest of
the voyage but it didn't bother them.....they were now safe.....that was
a bit of excitement in the middle of the night.
I had a similar setup for the manual bilge pump hose on my 32, however,
after I heard their story, now there is a high loop and a check vale.
And I won't be doing any crossings from Halifax to St. John's.
Rob Abbott
AZURA
C&C 32 - 84
Halifax, N.S.
On 2017-06-01 10:26 AM, Joe Boyle via CnC-List wrote:
We had a nasty scare last night after our Wednesday night race. We
were motoring back to the dock - about a half hour trip and I climbed
down the companionway into about 2 inches of bay water. The bilge was
full and overflowing as we motored along. Inspection revealed no
leaks that i could see from the engine compartment - shaft log, water
pump, muffler and exhaust and thru hulls were all fine. I jump up to
the head and check all 3 thru hulls there - all dry.
We finally get the auto bilge pump working and pumped all the water
out - and no more leak. I believe that the float switch may have been
stuck.
So here's my theory - under power the 30 MK1 tends to squat and the
bilge outlet is below the water on the stern. We had had rain the
week before and I had neglected to turn on the manual switch to get
out the last of any water in the bilge - the float switch always
leaves a few cupfuls in the bilge. I am thinking that while under way
with the outlet submerged, the bilge pump cycled on. Then - as usual
- the remaining water in the hose flowed back into the bilge. But
this time with the outlet underwater, it started water siphoning into
the boat.
After cleaning it all up I checked it in the morning - and it was dry
as usual. The bilge hose has a high loop in it but no air break or
check valve.
I am thinking a check valve or an air break would keep this from
happening again - any opinions would be welcome.
Oh - and I think I will fix the manual bilge pump that I have been
putting off for a while!
thanks,
Joe
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make a contribution to offset our costs, please go to:
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All Contributions are greatly appreciated!
