How many bilge pumps should a dinghy have?

Greenheart

Greenheart

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Has anybody seen this Youtube video of the chap with a Mirror dinghy at Itchenor, quite nicely equipped for cruising?


I don't think I've ever seen a sailing dinghy with a bilge pump...let alone TWO, let alone an ELECTRIC one...

...does this fellow have an irrational fear of swamping? Don't Mirrors have self-bailers? I can't remember.
 
I've seen bigger cruising type dinghies, Wayfarers and the like, with a single manual bilge pump. Especially common if the boat is kept on a mooring, and you might want to pump out accumulated rain when you get on board.

Otherwise, a hand bailer will do nicely. An electric pump in a Mirror is definitely eccentric.

Some Mirrors have a self-bailer, some don't.

Pete
 
I like his aerofoil steps on the rudder blade. That sort of attachment really makes the rudders effective through end-plate function !


What's the white tube on the transom to port ? See-Me ???
 
Saw that one. He's done her to meet his needs very well indeed. I also liked the time spent on the foils. it can make a difference for sure. Im doing the foils on my Mirror at the moment. Will maybe spend an hour more on the shaping yet myself after seeing that again!
My old clinker dinghy has an electric pump, but it sometimes lives on a marina berth for weeks at a time in the summer. Its easier than lifting the floorboards to use the bailer too. It runs off a 3S lipo pack from my electric RC planes, with an automatic switch. All neatly hidden from view. Pipework hidden under the thafts to the skin fitting etc...
 
prv said:
I've seen bigger cruising type dinghies, Wayfarers and the like, with a single manual bilge pump. Especially common if the boat is kept on a mooring, and you might want to pump out accumulated rain when you get on board.

Otherwise, a hand bailer will do nicely. An electric pump in a Mirror is definitely eccentric.

Some Mirrors have a self-bailer, some don't.

Pete
Click to expand...

Tied up in Salerno in the pouring rain I saw an open boat getting lower and lower in the water - finally an agitatedly sculled dinghy came out from the shore and the rower leaned over to bale the boat - as he put his hand on the gunwale the added weight was just sufficient to ensure the flooded boat slipped below the surface.
 
dancrane said:
Has anybody seen this Youtube video of the chap with a Mirror dinghy at Itchenor, quite nicely equipped for cruising?
Click to expand...
Blimey - with all that kit onboard no wonder he needs an electric bilge pump - the self bailer won't work as he won't get enough speed up!
The double shroud? Why?! and I hope he tensions the forestay a bit before setting off ....

I did like his idea of hatch covers and the conversion to pivoting centreboard ...

It's a long time since I sailed my mirror - must dust it off one day.
 
prv said:
I've seen bigger cruising type dinghies, Wayfarers and the like, with a single manual bilge pump. Especially common if the boat is kept on a mooring, and you might want to pump out accumulated rain when you get on board.

Otherwise, a hand bailer will do nicely. An electric pump in a Mirror is definitely eccentric.

Some Mirrors have a self-bailer, some don't.

Pete
Click to expand...

Serious Wayfarer cruisers often have two bilge pumps= one either side, to keep boat dry-ish going up wind especially-crew can pump one handed while handling jib sheet.
We had one mounted on a narrow board that fitted between the seat slats either side at the front of our MkII, with another bit of wood underneath as a turnbuckle to keep it in place when pumping.

We swapped it over just before tacking as part of that drill-but then we did tend to be on a tack for an hour or two at a time; Port Logan to Donagdee was all one tack, 20nm+ worth:D.

one or two trips we could have used an electric pump tho':(
 
I recall the scene in Jaws, where Chief Brody gets sick of doing menial tasks, and throws aside the portable bilge-pump, like this one...

View attachment 29855

...and you can see why he might feel its use was futile. I wonder why nobody manufactures a pump of similarly simple design, but with a cylinder that's twice or thrice as capacious? Typically these cheap pumps only eject 3/4 litre per stroke - as much as the contents of a wine bottle. Why don't they make a two-litre one? Thirty seconds hard work would drain quite a depth from a small boat.
 
dancrane said:
I recall the scene in Jaws, where Chief Brody gets sick of doing menial tasks, and throws aside the portable bilge-pump, like this one...

View attachment 29855

...and you can see why he might feel its use was futile. I wonder why nobody manufactures a pump of similarly simple design, but with a cylinder that's twice or thrice as capacious? Typically these cheap pumps only eject 3/4 litre per stroke - as much as the contents of a wine bottle. Why don't they make a two-litre one? Thirty seconds hard work would drain quite a depth from a small boat.
Click to expand...

We had something like that on our cruising Wayfarer. With a suction pipe on the bottom and a 2.5" hole in the floorboards each side of the centreboard case. Lifting the floorboards to bail at sea isn't really an option; you have too much else to do and there is usually lots of gear tied down to the boards. My crew pumped for three hours solid from St. Caths to the Needles on one trip and declared that he wasn't coming on the boat again until we got self bailers. I was always worried about leaks from self bailers when sleeping on the boat (didn't want a wet sleeping bag). Also a cruising dinghy is often heavily laden and lower in the water than its racing counterpart which makes it difficult for bailers to work.
 
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