330 express forward bilge

grady33

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Location
Ocean Pines, MD
Model
Express 330
We seem to get a little water in the forward bilge now and then. The bilge pump sits a little high and is unable to get all the water out. Since I hate to have water sitting in there, I have been removing it with a wet vac but was looking for a small pump I could plug in and use. The wet vac usually sucks up about 3-4 gallons. Does anyone else run into this and how do you deal with it? Since the water is mostly under the floor, a hose is best way to get to it. Wet vac works good but I hate carrying kit back and forth.
 

Winged Pig

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I experience the same thing with my Sailfish. I picked up a small squeeze siphon pump (the kind used to transfer kerosene from a container to a small heater) and keep it stashed on my boat. It's small, weighs nothing and is easy to store out of the way. When I get some water in the forward bilge, usually after a heavy rain as the anchor locker does drain into the bilge (the only thing that does to my knowledge and the amount of water is usually negligible) I pop the round plate in the floor and pump the water into the shower sump. When this gets full the small pump in the sump comes on and pumps the water overboard. Usually takes less then five minutes and my bilge is once again dry. Easy.

Hope that helps.
 

SmokyMtnGrady

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I use sump pumps to drain my rental cabin hot tubs, but I think those are too big to fit into the pie plate access hole. I would look at perhaps buying a small pond pump if you are using 120 VAC shore power and pumping it to the deck. They can move a fair amount of water and tolerate some head above the pump and they are maybe $60 at Lowes or Home Depot. Or buy a another bilge pump and rig it to a ciggy lighter connection and make it portable and then you have a 12 volt aux portable bilge pump too.
 

Grog

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When I get some water in the forward bilge I take her out and trim the motors way high and let the water drain to the aft bilge to get pumped out.
 

Fishtales

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Bilge areas are not dry 100% of the time. Personally, I wouldn't worry about it. As stated trim up and let the aft bilge drain it down.