Recently I welcomed a classic motorboat into my small fleet of good old boats. The small wooden cruiser, built over 55 years ago, is in dire need of restoration, though the carvel planked hull is in surprisingly good shape. However, much of the boat’s superstructure – including the wheelhouse and main cabin – was cracked and rotten, and the bilges full of rainwater.
My first job was to find a quick way to install at least one automatic bilge pump so I wouldn’t need to rush to the boat after each rainfall. I did what I could to temporarily reduce water ingress. However, the boat was far from watertight, especially after the heavy rain storms we’ve experienced in recent years.
The installation had to be foolproof but not permanent, as I’d be working on the boat and the bilge pumps would also need to be easily removable.
I decided to use two bilge pumps– one automatic and one with manual control. Each of the pumps I used have a removable base (the basket/strainer) with predrilled holes to secure the pump in a boat bilge.
