Word of warning about ballast tanks...

[Julian Swindell]

We had a wonderful day's sail at the English Raid. Speeds up to 6.6kts. When we got back I was surprised that one of the bunk cushions was wet. Further investigation showed that all of them were absolutely sodden. Much concern over where the water had come from. Then the reason dawned on me. Opening the under Vee berth lockers confirmed my suspicion.

I had pumped the ballast tanks dry the day before, due to very light winds. This day I opened the forward facing self bailer to fill the tanks. The lesson to learn is to shut said forward facing bailer before sailing at high speed all day. I had been ramming water in at such pressure it came through the "water tight" hatches in the lockers and had filled them completely. These then overflowed into the cabin, soaking the cushions. I have just spent the day drying everything out. Over the winter I am going to fit some Henderson screw down watertight hatch covers. The simple flush hatches fitted are really not watertight at all. Every one on the boat has leaked sometime or other. But do remember to shut the filler before setting off...

[Peter Taylor]

In my BC20 (Seatern) both hatches into the front ballast tank are sealed with silicon sealant; now I know why!

For filling, I leave the aft hatch open until the aft tank is full to the brim - I've discovered that if you close it while filling it can't vent and the tank doesn't fill fully. I then close it and, if I remember, open it again a bit later to top up once the front tank has had a chance to fill from the aft tank. For emptying I now always use a Rule submersible pump stuck through the aft hatch. The electric Whale pump fitted by SB takes far too long, and I'm too lazy to do it by hand!

Peter

[Julian Swindell]

My unbranded Rule look alike pump was brilliant last week. I used it several times to pump out. Only 15 minutes and battery went back to shwoing fully charged just a few minutes after I stopped using it. Shan't be using the hand pump again any time soon.

[Peter Taylor]

Do you pump from the fore and aft tanks separately?

Pumping from the aft tank I find I have to stop after about 10 minutes to allow the water to flow from the forward tank. I repeat that process a couple of times - short pump, then wait - until I declare the tanks "empty".  The whole process takes about 30 minutes although I'm probably only pumping for maybe 20 minutes at most.

I'm toying with the idea of installing an automatic submersible pump "permanently". Then I would just switch on the 12V supply to it and it would keep pumping whenever the water in the tank was deep enough to switch it on. That should make sure both tanks were empty. Since I already have the pipework going to the electric Whale pump I could make use of that. Anyone want a Whale?!

Incidentally I've broken the plastic guard over the aft tank self bailer so am now (slightly) worried in case a fish gets sucked in and dies somewhere in the pipework!

Peter

[Julian Swindell]

The manual pump fitted sucks out from the forward tank, which I think even Matt agrees was a mistake. The pump is in the cockpit, so when you are pumping, the bows are up, stern down, and the stern tank barely empties at all unless there is a huge person sitting in the bows as you pump. The electric pump I stick into the stern tank through the hatch, and it pumps both tanks pretty well dry in under 15 minutes. There is no noticeable delay in water flowing from the bow tank to the stern tank at all. It is a pretty large diameter connecting hose. I have wondered about replacing the forward facing self bailer which fills the tanks with a simple sea cock, but I am not sure it is worth the considerable effort. I tend to sail with the tanks full all the time.

[Peter Taylor]

At the risk of being branded a "pipe diameter anorak"... I suspect that the connecting pipe in Daisy Grace is similar to what I have going to the manual pump. The connecting pipe in Seatern is smaller than that, which means it takes longer to get both tanks "empty".  The small pipe is neat since it hides under the floor boards but I do wonder about the period in which I've got the aft tank more or less empty, but still a significant amount of water free to slosh about in the forward tank!  All in all, I think a larger pipe which allows both tanks to empty together might be a better idea.