Oops...Houston, We Have a Problem

Close to the bottom on our to-do list was an item to check our bilge pumps.  These (usually) trusty pumps get water out of the boat when it makes its way into the far reaches of the bilge under our feet.  Normally it's fairly dry down there, but this is another safety item that MUST function when we need it.  Things happen out at sea, and a sudden on-rush of water into the boat is one of the events no one wants to think about.  But it does happen, and we have to have a plan for what to do about it.

Checking the bilge pumps was on the bottom of our list since we expected everything to work as it did the last time we used them two years ago.  The pickup hoses for the pumps also live in a neighborhood with almost total inaccessibility, way down in the bowels of the boat.  So, we put it off until we couldn't ignore it any longer.

We have a large capacity electric pump, set up with a monitor for the level of the water.  This pump is designed to be triggered and automatically go on when the water level gets to a certain point.  Then, we also have a hand pump in the cockpit to assist in water clearance.  We took a hose and filled the bilge, expecting the automatic pump to go on.  Nothing.  Nada.  So, we turned it on manually, and the motor kicks in, but no water is going out.  Then we tested the manual pump - same response.

The good news is that we are in a boatyard, and can fix anything that goes wrong.  This is a big problem and we must get to the bottom of it.  We've got three separate problems - why is the automatic switch not working, why is the electric pump not pumping, and why is the manual pump not working.  Oh boy.

The consolation to having one more show-stopping problem is that the weather is not good for our passage.  It will be blowing quite a bit above normal for at least a week.  So - we sit tight and fix our pumps.