Deep Keel Bilges

[Bassman]

I have a Contessa 26; long keel with deep bilge, very narrow at the bottom. My bilge pump has a 2" hose (or possibly slightly less), which fits nicely down to the bottom of the bilge and allows me to suck it almost completely dry. However, I have no strum box or any other sort of filter on the end. On the rare occasions that rubbish has been sucked up from teh bilge it has been a very simple job to clear it at teh pump. My latest survey recommended that a filter and/or non return valve should be fitted "if possible", but so far I have not found anything that will fit down into the narrow space. Any ideas?

 

[ashanta]

Simon,

You can buy the filter boxes very easily.What
is the width of the bilges? . My strum box is no more that 3 inches wide. Is this too wide for your bilges?
Im sure you can find a solution even if you make up a practical solution your self.

Regards.

peter

 

[lockwood]

why not try ladies stockings? ahem....

seriously though, just a bit of stocking held on by an elasticband.

 

[ashanta]

Thanks for answering the point I was suggesting!

 

[jon]

The Whale vertical strum box should fit, it is only 50mm (approx) wide.
http://www.seamarknunn.co.uk/catalog/subcat334.htm

 

[toad]

Take one peace of 2inch plastic pipe block one end off,drill lots of 1/8 holes in it and fit to your bilge pump pipe.The right length will depend on how much room you have in the bilge,keep it flat in the bilge so it cannot draw air.

 

[MIKE_MCKIE]

I have a Bowman 26, almost the same configuration as yours. Deep, narrow bilge and a 38mm bilge suction, running to a large manual bilge pump. Have several minor observations.
What the hell ever gets down there apart from water & the occasional spanner? (ergo a magnet is more use than a strum box)
If easy to clean at the pump & you can't get a hand down the bilge to clean it that way anyway, (unless you have 6 foot long arms!) why have a strum?
If you fit a non-return valve, it should logically be situated at the lower/bottom of the suction & if it gets clogged you will have to take out the whole bilge suction line, so why fit a non return valve?
In short what I am saying is, has the surveyor actually considered the practicalities of his recommendation, or has he just stuck summat in the survey report to justify his existence?
I am a great believer in the KISS principle, and additional valves & other bits are very carefully assessed before being added. Mercifully when my boat was surveyed pre-purchase, I had a long discussion with the surveyor BEFORE he put pen to paper, so didn't get stuck with anything OTT.
In this instance I would definitely apply the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" principle. He does say "if possible" so you could do a risk assessment & say it isn't practical. I feel a much more practical suggestion would be to fit a second bilge line & pump.
Cheers

 

[kds]

Mike,
How nice to get some clear common sense instead of the "you really need a second Radar in case the first goes down" type of advice on this forum.
Ken

 

[Bassman]

Some good suggestions there; thanks very much. The Whale vertical entry strum box should certainly fit. The side entry one, which I already have, will not. I have considered fashioning something from the sort of net that oranges are sold in; tough as old boots and open enough not to impede the water flow. I already have a second pump fitted so I might invoke the 'if possible' clause, but I don't want to upset my insurers too much as there are one or two other recomendations that I am not going to carry out, at least not yet.