Got some air today

[LEfriend]

We always watch the bilge. It got clogged up right about the time we called it. I think something washed down into it when we swamped it, either on the way out or as soon as we started back. It looked like rotten masking tape or something, it was wrapped completely around the pump. I got it cleared right before we pulled into the marina, but the pump still wasn't running well enough to catch up. It's getting replaced before the boat goes in the water again.

We've been caught in that kind of weather before but never had a problem keeping the bow up. This time though...

I'm not sure where the stuff came from. We're always very careful about keeping small debris off of the deck and out of the lockers and never leave anything laying when we work on the boat. I'm going to pull everything out when I'm replacing the pump and get a shop vac down there. Lord knows everything has to have been washed back there with as much water came over the bow.

You might think about a second pump while you are at it. Had one put in mine last spring for just your reason. Dealer thought it was overkill but I stuck to my guns. Have two batteries also and each pump is wired to a separate battery. Nice piece of mind for no more than it costs

[B can man]

Woah! scary crap. Plowing the bow is my biggest fear in my fish-n-ski. Glad you made it back ok.

I keep a spare bildge pump on the boat with a 8ft piece of garden hose attached to it. It stays in a storage locker, but is one grab away. I can either plug it into the cigarette lighter outlet or clamp it onto the battery. That way if the main bildge pump goes down or can't keep up for some reason, I can chuck the extra pump into the bilge and the hose over the side. I plan to mount the pump permanently and put a float switch in with manual override.

[TIN CAN]

I have two 1500 gph pumps on each of my two boats. One is automatic and the other is on a manual switch. Don't forget if the plug is inside and accessible and you are under way you can always just pull the plug and drain the bilge. Just put it back in before you stop forward movement.