Bilge Pump Chat

It all happens at once. The rain before Christmas found its way into Salar's bilge where the float switch should have triggered, setting off the bilge pump. It didn't. Which is hardly surprising, as the mechanical float and electrical contact live in the darkest, wettest, muckiest part of the boat. I went to buy a new one and found something more expensive but infinitely better - a vacuum switch. These operate on air pressure. As water rises, it pushes air up a sealed tube to trigger a pressure switch which can be mounted way up out of harms way. This is likely to last a lot longer. My only problem is, the original pump and switch are mounted under the engine...

While I was about it, I also bought a manual bilge pump, something I should have done a long time ago. I had to shop around for a compact one that could be mounted behind the cockpit wall, accessible via a neat little trap door. Whale make one, no more expensive than the standard bulky version either.