Ben, A number of years back I installed the system Tom Soko installed on his C36.It is a rule 500gph automatic bilge pump, along with 3 way panel switch . This will keep the water down to less than 1/2 inch in the bilge. It goes on every 2-3 minutes for a few seconds to sense water. Battery drain is very low. I have it hooked to the windlass battery and the voltage drops less than 0.1 volt over a weeks operation. Tom installed a vent in the discharge line to minimize back flow when the pump stops. I found that a high loop located below the galley sink does the same thing for my installation. The 3 way switch permits manual , automatic, and off positions. I sometime turn the pump off when at the dock at night . Total installation will be around $100

Jack F Stewart
1993 C36 #1233 "Windancer"
Port Clinton, OH

Here is what I use from Harbour Freight tools.
In the image - it is the second image from the right - Marine utility pump. It runs on 12VDC and it takes 4 AMPS. I use it to remove the oil from the engine and the transmission and it will work on water as well. $ 34.99. I hope it lasts a while. Its specs are that it can run dry without damage.

[url]http://www.harborfreight.com/catalogsearch/result?q=12+volt+pumps[/url]

If all I want to do is manually dry the bilge, I use a small ShopVac with bag and foam removed

Jack F Stewart

I have been watching the post regarding wet bilges, mine are bone dry through the summer but a nuisance in the winter when it rains. I always sponge out the bilge in the winter as the bilge pump always spits back a gallon or so after shutting off. With the line running all the way to the transom it is just that volume in the line to the outlet draining back.

I question whether a small pump teed into the sink drain with a loop and syphon breake under the counter would be high enough and safe enough to remove this nuisance rain water. That Greybeard pump looks like it would work well for this if the wiskers don't clog the drain.

Me and my son went for a Fathers Day sail yesterday on the Bay, 25-30 Kts of wind on the main bay. Without reefing the main this brought 7.5 Kts heading to weather with the rail down on one port tack from south of Pier 39 to Sausilto. The run home brought 7-9 knots occasionaly surfing whith the port rail down all the way home and a fair amount of water on deck. My bilge had about two pints in in when we got back to our dock.

As most have concluded I beleive the bulk of the water in the bilge gets in around the mast during rains.

I might be a careless radical, or perhaps I'm part of the silent majority. Either way, I'll confess that I don't turn off the sink sea cock every time I leave the boat. Doing that would be pointless unless I also ripped apart the aft cabin mattress and closed the engine sea cock as well as closing the sea cock for the washdown pump and the AC heat exchanger. While I'm at it, I might want to put the forward drawer rack out so I can reach the depth sounder and knot meter sensor just in case those decide to leak. Let's face it. The boat has too many holes in it.

I'll also confess that I live with a couple inches of water in the bilge. Some is from rain water coming down the mast, some is from the stuffing box, and some is from the condensate off the air conditioner coils. One way or another, there's always some water in there. I don't bother to sponge it dry because my pump cycle counter indicates an average of 1 cycle per day and there is probably at least half a gallon per cycle.

A peristaltic pump seems like an interesting idea to get the bilge dry, but those are tremendously inefficient in terms of their pumping ability and the tubing will need frequent replacement. Perhaps the worst part of trying to run one is the question of how to control. Bilge pump switches are design for conventional bilge pumps and turn off at around 3/4" or so. What sort of switch can automatically control a peristaltic pump, or are we suppose to sit around and watch it pump the bilge dry, then turn it off?

I failed to expand my thought process. The small pump would only be used to empty the bilge score I left to avoid the need to sponge it dry.

I have installed the Greybeard pump on our C375 as an attempt to keep the bilge dry. I am still trying to find where the water comes into the bilge.

I have teed the pump outlet to the sink drain, 1/4" barb fitting with vonyl hose. The pump is powered through a 12V timer (Ebay). I have it set to runs for 5 minutes every 24 hours. So far that has not been enough to empty the bilge. The pump output capacity is very small and is rather noisy but is self priming and can run dry.

Hopefully by adjusting pumping duration and maybe find where the water comes from I'll be able to keep the bilge dry but so far, no luck.

I spread a line of blue chalk line powder around the whole bilge floor to try to trace water path to the bilge low spot. So far, no marks. I am starting to think it might be weeping from the keel bolts.

It is possible to add a timer so that when the float switch senses enough water - it will turn on the pump for a specified duration of time - example 5 minutes. Then turn off. This way it will remove all the water.

There is always a bit of water in my bilge and for the most part I beleave it is rain through the mast. My solution to keep it to a minimum is to add a second small bilge pump (Whale 650 I think). I worked to find the true lowest spot in the bilge and mounted the pump there. This pump is plumbed with a check valve close to the pump, so there is almost no water return after it runs. I ran the output to a "Y" up past the hump in the original out flow hose. So the main pump is the same as it has always been, but never has enough water to run because the second pump stays ahead of it with no backflow. So far so good.

[QUOTE=neilroach;18403]There is always a bit of water in my bilge and for the most part I beleave it is rain through the mast. My solution to keep it to a minimum is to add a second small bilge pump (Whale 650 I think). I worked to find the true lowest spot in the bilge and mounted the pump there. This pump is plumbed with a check valve close to the pump, so there is almost no water return after it runs. I ran the output to a "Y" up past the hump in the original out flow hose. So the main pump is the same as it has always been, but never has enough water to run because the second pump stays ahead of it with no backflow. So far so good.[/QUOTE]

Where did you find the lowest spot in your bilge, might save me someone some time to locate it. Could be elswhere due to loading the boat but it would be a place to start.

Gary, on my boat there 3 sections in the main bilge, it turned out that the most forward is slightly lower than the other two. My main pump is in the center section, where it has always been. I have had my little "keep dry ( or at least dryer)" both fore and aft of the main pump and it seems to do the most good in that section most forward in the main bilge. There is that section just aft of the mast that is under the midship end of the holding tank and I suspect it may be even a little lower but it would be hard to mount the pump there and I can't see it anyway.
The key is really a little pump with a check valve and an inlet on the pump that is as low as possable. Obviously this cannot be the main pump, as the check valve would be a no no, the low inlet could clog more easily and it is a fairly low capacity pump. That being said, it keeps the water level in my bilge lower, and in a pinch acts as a back up.
Regarding a dedicated outlet, I felt that as the outlet hose from the hump to the outletn is quite largethere would not be a restriction. I have run water in the bilge and had both pumps running plus hand pumping the deck pump and the single outlet seems more than adequate.