Just looking into improving upon my bilge pump arrangements aboard my Lochin and wondered what everyone else has and where they are fitted.
My Lochin being twin engine with built in Keel fuel tanks one in the ****pit and the other in the wheelhouse, has only a small sump at the end of the keel (aft) about 8inches long,10 inches deep,4inches wide.
Any water that finds its way into the port and starboard engine bays ends up in the keel sump unless already full for whatever reason then it lays in each engine bay until the auto pump runs.
The wheelhouse is bulkheaded off so any water ingress would fill either side of forward keel tank,currently only pumped by engine driven pump and only if required by visual inspection.Forward cabin also has bulkhead and serviced by manual only pump.
Current setup is :-
Engine driven bilge/deckwash pump system, with diverter valves. Can pump out keel sump or either side of keel fuel tank in wheelhouse or be used as deck wash system.
Auto Bilge Pump (now faulty) in Keel Sump.
Manual Deck Pump fitted, pumping Keel Sump.
Manual Pump fitted in Heads Pumping forward cabin keel area.
I now am confused as to what and where would be best to fit without loads of holes in hull for outlets , obviously replace failed pump with replacement auto unit in keel but do I also............
1. Fit 2 auto of approx 650gph or manually switched electric pumps (1500-2000 gph) in each engine bay (although any water ends up in keel and would be pumped out by auto pump) as an extra precaution. Being alerted by bilge alarm triggering on keel auto pump (could inspect and switch on manual pumps if ever needed).
2. Fit 2 auto pumps in wheelhouse each side of fuel tank with alarms as you wouldnt easily see any water ingress unless lifting floor hatches.
3. Fit large Auto pump in forward cabin, remove manual from heads re-using outlet for new electric pump.
4. All of the above.
Any comments/advise would be greatly appreciated guys.
Not sure I can offer any advice but I can tell you I have four auto bilge pumps and one manual.
I have an auto/switched manual pump in the forward section under wheelhouse of I believe around 650 GPH.
The engine compartment has similar mounted in the keel near the bulkhead and a further auto/switched manual really large capacity 'panic' one mounted on the top edge just before the drop away into the keel. There is also a manually operated bilge pump if all else fails, but by this time I reckon you would be deploying the liferaft!!
There is another auto/switched manual one in the aft keel section.
Interesting to hear your fuel tanks are mounted in the keelkeeping the weight low. Mine are roughly across the centre of the boat, side by side, or end by end if you understand, but obviously higher up than yours.
I think you have covered just about every eventuality there Geoff. I can't really comment as I have just a single engine so don't really understand how the water lies in your boat but generally the main pumps should be at the lowest point with at least 1 back up. I have an auto bilge pump in keel area with deckwash pump via divertor valves in extreme emergency and a hand pump for back up. What I don't have and intend to fit is a pump in the forrad section - another job for the list!
It has gone pretty quiet on here, hope everyone is out boating. Finally decided what to do re my new engine (I think) probably going to go for a FPT (Iveco) 130 normally aspirated. It will be tons quieter, cleaner and according to my engineer last forever. He has just removed one from a fishing boat after 40,000 hours and there was nothing wrong with it. Should be ideal for the wildlife watchers which are the main stay of our business. I'd still like the 420hp version for the occasional long haul off to some remote location but at the end of the day pootling about at 7 1/2 knots will just ruin it.
Thanks for your replies, Martin your setup is about the same as mine and Dave you have plenty of options with the auto/manual set up.
I think i will fit an additional auto/manual electric pump in the forward section bearing in mind thats where the sea****s are for the heads.
Martin are you sure fitting such a small engine is the best option.I appreciate the benefits,cost etc but really think you will be flogging such a small engine (130hp ?) Lochins with 180hp didnt do more than 12knots and you will have very little extra power if and when you need it to get you out of trouble. Perhaps speak to Simon @ Lochin for some further input.
We seem to have gone back to a quiet spell again,shame that more don't discuss there boats, trips and projects.
Still deciding which way to go really but am deffinately leaning toward the smaller engine option. Having owned the boat 4 years and used it just about everyday from April to October the times I have exceeded displacement speed are so few and far between I can't justify spending an extra £10K on a bigger engine. Doing the wildlife stuff we only do 7.5Kn and we now do so few fishing trips that they are all fairly close to home. If we do go the bigger engine route being forced to run the engine at higher revs to keep it in good condition and therefore using more fuel will just erode my bottom line and I will be struggling to fill my normal 3 hour trips, both large considerations for me. Getting out of trouble is something I avoid by careful planning of the weather, if things do blow up I find slowing down and plowing through the swells is much better than crashing over them with a group of customers on board hanging on for grim death while I sit nice and comfy and dry in my Kab suspension seat
If I did fit the bigger engine then I would be looking for 360 plus Hp probbaly the Iveco 420Hp and I would also need to fit trim tabs and do some other mods. Part of my coding is that I only use the aft fuel tank with passengers onboard which is approx 100 gallons so would only give me 5hrs duration flat out whereas with the smaller engine I would get 30 hours duration. The big difference is the miles covered which at 3 gallons per hour 7.5Kn is over 220 miles, at 20 gallons p hour 20Kn (theoretical) 100 miles - and it could be less. If it was a matter of using the boat just for me and the family then the bigger engine would be my preferred route, sadly in this case it is business first.
Oh well, still waiting for some sums to come through but you can see why I am thinking smaller engine.
Just ordered a Whale Supersub Smart 1100 fully automatic pump for my keel sump,small in size and ideal to fit in the keel well but does have an override facility if required.
With regard to the other area's I may fit one of these in the forward cabin once the aft is fitted after assessing suitability and think about wheelhouse area further.
