will it sink taking a wave....

[JTs-rz2]

After seeing that crazy video of capsizing tow boats and crashing into the launch i was second guessing my bilge pump. If I took on a wave and my bilge would fill what would happen??? I have taken on a couple big waves - A large triple deck cabin cruiser that did not know how to use a trim tab went by while i was putting in a no wake and sent 3 waves at my bow and almost capsized me. filled the bow to the windshield with water. As soon my bow poked through the wave i throttled it and straightened out for the next wave and went flying. lucky the boat just did not torpedo to the bottom. bilge kicked in and off but i could not keep my bow out of the lake from that and kept taking on more water. I also had a hose pop off filling a ballast bag before and had a ton of water in my bilge. I did not know if my bilge pump kicked in - regardless each time there was still a ton of water in my bilge and the boat would be very bow heavy taking on more waves - exaggerating the filling of the bilge.

So i did a test - i parked on a slight incline with stern low to mimic if i piled everyone in the back of the boat and could be under way with the trim tab to keep my nose up. How much water would it take before my bilge pump triggered??? started filling the bottom with a hose. Found out LOTS!!!! it took a while and water was up an on the v-drive. After the pump kicked in it was VERY slow (500gph pump)

Based on my unscientific test I am not comfortable depending on the bilge pump for a scenario of taking wave that may fill a bilge. IMO the intent of this pump is for rain water accumulation during lake storage.

Planning for alternative pumps:
1 - Hand pump through the access panel in emergency or if i notice a lot of water in the bilge. (cheap but will it work? )
2 - Get a 1000gph pump with a 12V adapter and hose to through in the bilge in emergency - store on boat. (easy quick)
3 - wire and plumb on a switch a 1000gph pump in the bilge. (time consuming and another hole in the boat.)

Has anyone taken on a project like this - outcomes? How many keep a hand pump on the boat? ThX

[freeheel4life]

There are some "smart pumps" out there that will start pumping sooner than a float style will.
If it's something of a concern for you why not just switch your existing bilge pump for a pump with a higher GPH displacement.??
If you wanted redundant pumps you could easily install another one and Y it into a ballast vent with some adapter fittings and a check valve to make sure vent water doesn't backflow into bilge and not have to add a thru hull.

As **** as it sounds I think the real trick is constant vigilance at the lake. Don't get me wrong, I have totally been talking over gunnel to a new rider and gotten swamped over the bow, so I've been there. BUT if I had been paying attention to my surroundings at not the rider I could have easily seen them coming and made a move to avoid them and not been nose into them with front ballast filled had I been paying attention. It's always hard as captain to do nothing but pay attention to lake/surroundings/other boaters especially with the distractions of tunes, riders, people moving around boat, other boater etc. Sounds like you have all the right concerns and questions.

[chpthril]

Ive installed a couple secondary bilge pumps between the v-drive and gas tank and Y'd into the existing bilge discharge. Wired battery direct so its auto and wire to the existing bilge switch so its manual as well.

If you think about, these boats will handle a crap load of water. How many of us are running 3-5 k in ballast. Thats like 360 to 600 gallons of water we surf with.

One consideration with the other options, is having someone on board that can run them in the event of an emergency, or drive the boat while you operate them.

[freeheel4life]

Mike,
Wouldn't running two pumps thru 3/4" not gain you anything, beyond the whole redundancy thing??

[ericinmich]

Mike,
Wouldn't running two pumps thru 3/4" not gain you anything, beyond the whole redundancy thing??

Yea, an ocean going vessel would never double up a discharge on bilge pumps. You probably don't get half of each pumps output if both on, but I'm sure it's significant. Plus, if only one was on it could back feed through a pump, and also more connection/failure points.

Every bilge pump should have it's own discharge.

[chpthril]

it would be a tad slower than with each having their own thru-hull, but the flow velocity will pick up a little as the merge happens. The other thing is that the low spot in the boat is where we put the 2nd pump. We find it kicks on first and discharges most of the water without the original pump coming on. With that said, this is under normal conditions, not a catastrophic wave over the bow. Another thing to consider, I think a 3/4 hose and outlet can handle more than a 500 GPH pump, so room to upgrade without new holes.

Plus, if only one was on it could back feed through a pump

Many modern pumps have one way outlets.

[JohnnieMo]

My Z1 came with two bilge pumps and you can manually enable them from Tigé touch.

I think what happened is late in the 2013 build year they were already adding an additional vent hole for 2014 but my boat didn't get that 2014 upgrade. So they slapped in a second bilge pump instead. I had to wire it to the button though. It only ran on a float.

Point is there is a switch to enable the bilge pumps. I'd be surprised if all our boats don't have that.

[cbath]

My 16 Z3 bilge pump is easily enabled through the touch screen. The worst we have ever had was taking cruiser wakes in the stern swapping riders that filled the transom activity lockers and in turn filled the bilge quite a bit. I was running full rear ballast and 50% in the fronts. BEST surf wave I've made to date... even joked about pumping the bilge partially full to surf from now on. I was surprised by how much water was pumped out by the bilge pump, but never even got slightly nervous that it would sink. If your nervous, by all means install a secondary bilge pump. Watching the videos of the boats that sank unfortunately was a lesson in exactly what not to do... The nice part of our Tige's is that the Taps plate actually has an effect on how our boats ride. My friends 23lsv is the last boat I would want to be on in any sort of rough water. Just my .02


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[talltigeguy]

It is obvious that bilge pump placement plays a role in the OP's question. If the bilge pump is in the back of the boat, the center of a convex hull fills with literally hundreds of pounds of water before it ever reaches the bilge pump in the back. But then kick the boat into gear, and that water all sloshes to the back of the boat, which would leave a center bilge pump high and dry.

I think the safe thing for manufacturers to do is to have 2 pumps for an engine on and engine off scenario, and it sounds like Tige has stepped it up in recent years. My 2006 Malibu only had 1 bilge pump. My 2006 Mastercraft had 2 of them...and they both failed the only day I forgot the plug, but that is a different story. Nautique G23 has 2 pumps as well.

[Ruger761]

In the older hull designs its very easy to take a wave over the bow especially under low throttle. I've upgraded the old pump to a new float style 800gpm (about as large as the small diameter hose will take) and then added a 1200gph with a new thru-hull that is higher up on the hull so that it always is out of the water. Then since I still fill bags manually I have that pump to use in an emergency as well.

[007]

I still have a Tsunami 12v pump and a manual bilge pump I carry around. Never used them to bail a boat, but its nice knowing I have some backup, even if its slow.

[BCRider]

I also have a spare pump for manually filling a spare bag if needed. I've also thought about installing a second in the bilge and upgrading the current 500 to something better. Maybe it's just me and the fact I have already done so with ballast upgrades but I have no problems drilling more holes if needed.

[jmhatchett]

I installed a second bilge pump like Mike said, the original is still set up and plumbed with Own switch. The 2nd Pump was installed in the Low spot in the hull with an automatic float and separate thru hull and it was very worth it. It pumps, if by chance, a rainstorm comes while i have the boat out of the barn and it kicks on automatically it is direct wired to the batteries so constant power to allow float to work. This was one of the upgrades I would recommend highly.

[Jetdriver]

Having multiple pumps in the bilge is great for pumping water out once it's in but they aren't going to be able to keep up with the amount of water that's coming in when your taking waves over your bow. I think you guys may be letting paranoia get the best of you. I know it probably goes without saying but the best insurance is to develop good operating practice to keep it from happening in the first place. As Chpthril said your boat will float with multiple thousands of pounds of water in ballast bags. It'd take A LOT of weight to submerge it. Obviously it's possible but it doesn't happen all at once. Even if you did manage to submerge it they will float just under the surface. (Not ideal, I know but certainly not a Titantic moment)
I have a tsunami pump and hose I keep on board in case one of my reversible pumps fail so I can pump out a ballast bag by alternate means. It could be used as an emergency bilge pump also. In addition, with a reversible pump ballast system you could disconnect your bag fill/drain hose and stick it in the bilge to help drain it. (Assuming your ballast is already empty)

[Bakes5]

^^^I agree. Simply no way a reasonable bilge system will keep up with filling the bow up every 10 seconds. I would be more concerned with redundancy than trying to get a high flow system that will keep up with bad driving. That guy sunk his Malibu because he was in a panic. All he had to do was take the key out, throw it in the lake and float to where the wind beached him and he would have been fine. I mean seriously, in the background there are boats just sitting, drifting and bobbing while he is actively sinking his boat. Same thing in the McCoys video. Bottom line, if your boat is heavy, drift and bail. I don't think a 500 vs an 800 pump will make that much of a difference, but I do think a working vs a non-working pump will....hence the focus on redundancy.