Has anyone taken a wave over the bow while going over the bar in a runabout - what GPH bilge pump would you recommend that would keep the boat seaworthy while still motoring - a bloody big one is not the answer I'm looking for. This is in addition to the under floor ones already there.
Oscar
I copped a wave over the bow down at Brunswick, scary stuff.... I have a cuddy cabin, so not a hell off a lot off water got in... Still, it dumped about 500-1000lt in the boat at a guess..... If I had a open center console sort off boat, the situation would off been dire, even if I had double the pumps I currently have....
I have 2 bilge pumps...
The primary pump is a 750gph, and the emergency pump is a 3000gph...
If you have a open runabout, I would suggest nothing smaller then a 3000gph, and fit 2 off them and have them running when your going through the bar, not once you take on some water, and make sure you have very good quality, and high amperage batteries. Seconds are vital....
Oscar.. pumps wont save you in all occaisions.
Buy a boat that has a self draining hull if its that much of a worry. Have you thought of doing a bar course?
I only run 1 x 800GPH pump and I cross some of the worst bars on the east coast
Garry
Retired Honda Master Tech
Im with Jabba, even though we don't have those troubles up here in NQ. Better to have too much stuff to get you out of the crap than finding out that it wasn't good enough when the rescue boys are dragging your arse out of the water....
Can never be tooooooooooo cautious with bar crossings
Fillet and Release Squad
What happens to your battery if the back of the boat is full of water will it short out and the bilge pump stop working?
If you took a wave over the bow that compromised the seaworthiness of your runabout, I doubt a bilge pump would be of sufficient help in the short time you would have before the next wave arrived.
If you had lost power, you'd be in deep stuck. As soon as you got hit side-on you'd likely be capsized, depending on your hull configuration and the size of the wave.
If you still had power you could gun the boat straight out as hard and fast as possible to avoid the next wave, once outside your pump can offload the water.
Too flippin' scary a situation to put yourself in for the sake of a fish, IMHO.
Bar course sounds great!
Cheers.
If you took a splash from a breaking wave ordinary blge pumps will be ok but if you got a boat full of water your stuffed,the pumps will still be working while your paddeling to shore..sorry. Get a safer boat it sounds like your boating skills dont marry up to your craft.
Oscar,
I don't think there is a real answer to your question.
Boats that roll on bars seem to go over in a flash. Without a self draining hull you are most likely stuffed as the centre of gravity moves aft with the seawater. You lose control & the next wave gets you.
ROLL TIDE, ROLL.................
Regards,
Peter
Mate I'm with Jabba ........... seconds count,
If your dead set on crossing the bar regularly and your budget doesn't allow for a bigger craft, even on a perfect day and after all the bar courses ...... if some how you lose power whilst crossing and a wave hits right, you will want all the help from a bilge(s) that you can to keep you upright and give you a chance to repower.
If in those brief moments if you can maintain flotation and repower out if a bad situation a good bilge set up is worth it, ........learnt this one the hard way.
Since my little mishap in a runabout I have since upgraded, and even though the boat is very dry and I never use the bilge pumps I still have 3 of them ready to go , couldn't tell you their specs but they are the bigggest I could afford, I test all 3, and check there wiring on a regular basis
CHARTER BOAT, WHAT CHARTER BOAT?
Oscar,
If you get the answer you are looking for, someone has given you the wrong advice.
Cop one over the nose of your runabout and it means you're in the wrong place at the wrong time in the wrong boat.
Even whitewater coming over a screen provides more than enough weight to prevent a small boat from planing and getting away from trouble.
Let alone copping a green one which would almost certainly be curtains.
People also put waaay too much credence in having a self draining hull in a planing boat.
Certainly they are better (in well designed cases) than just a bilge pump, but generally you'll find a swamped self drainer needs way on to drain and this takes a lot of time. Add to that the fact that a self draining hull which isn't drained yet carries it's water load a fair bit higher that a bilged boat with the same amount of water in it and you're still in a whole lot of trouble in your well marketed highly unstable vessel. (cat owners excluded - max bouyancy at extremes of width)
Bottom line is you can wire up as many pumps as you want and bolt a gusher (hand driven) onto the gunwale as well, but you can't expect them to make your boat more inherantly seaworthy.
Hi Oscar
My late Dad gave me some advice when I was a young tacker, "When in doubt, pull out"
I think that could also be applied when dealing with bars and the like unless you really have to be there and in that case might I suggest you consider a vessel a bit more capable such as http://www.dmcltd.com/images/SYIDIma...V-JLBrazil.pdf
Cheers
Chimo
What could go wrong.......................
a scared man with a bucket can shift more water than the average pump...
A mate of mine up north (Bowen) had a plug in centrifical pump that he kept in the back of the boat, all he needed to do was plug it in to a special socket in the gunwales near the seats and it would pump a sh!tpile of water out.
Don't know what type it was though, but it would flog the pants of any bilge type pump.
Jabba, 1000L is a lot to have in your cockpit - that's 1 cubic meter of seawater and ~1030kg. Your combined pumps would have taken at least 4 mins to pump that out, probably more like 6 to 7 as nearly most pumps are rated at free or minimum head. That wasn't the day you were doing 50mph in a 3m+ swell was it...Originally Posted by Jabba_
Oscar, as others have said, you do need a decent pump, but if this is what you are relying on, no pump will help you, and you are probably the wrong boat in the wrong situation. I used to swamp-test boats for a living, and believe me, you don't want to be doing this on a bar, or worrying about whether your pump is big enough in this situation.
cheers
Thanks guys for all the replys and advice - I'm aware of my boats capabilitys - what I was interested in was a bilge pump's ability to shift water quick and was after comments from anyone that had experienced water in their boat and the size of pumps needed to be of value. I've seen a six meter boat go down on the Tweed bar and realise there is no maximum limit on the height of a rogue wave.
Thanks again Oscar.
Hey Gofishing,,, reread my sentence,, I said "500-1000lt at a guess"... Hence the "at a guess" part off the sentence.. It means it is not an accurate measurement, just a guess... Also 1000lt is the top end off the scale, for all I know there was probably only 300lt in the boat, or maybe 700lt.... Next time, (which I hope there isn't) I will careful measure any water that comes on board just so you can have piece off mind.. But all in all, who really gives a toss....Jabba, 1000L is a lot to have in your cockpit - that's 1 cubic meter of seawater and ~1030kg. Your combined pumps would have taken at least 4 mins to pump that out, probably more like 6 to 7 as nearly most pumps are rated at free or minimum head. That wasn't the day you were doing 50mph in a 3m+ swell was it...
No, not 3m or 50mph, on that day the swell was 5m and I was doing 65mph (had the NOS connected.. Using the waves like a ramp and landing ramps... Lots off good fun,, I also pulled off a back flip with a knack knack... Not easy to do in a 6m boat, especialy the knack knack part....
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