One, two, or emergency bilge pump?

[Chtucker]

We ended up settling on two 2000 gallon pumps both set low, with one switch set up higher and we added a high water alarm as well.

Fuel is waiting on some drawings from engineering to se what will fit.

I am curious if John thinks the separate compartment saved him on his first voyage where he realized he was taking on water in a few spots.

Trying to not have ANY change orders.. Trying not to question every item. I am trying not to obsess about things like which windlass etc. I did have them add a bunch of "must haves"

1). Dual boarding doors, kids and wife will appreciate them
2) Wallas diesel furnace with defrost ducts, Wallas cooktop.. Wife must be kept warm
3). Shore powered hot water to wash kids off
4) rear station for handling lines going through the locks


No electronics besides the the VHF that I have new in box. I figure I will need $5 to 6k for Garmin/Lowrance/Simrad 12" plotter, sounder, radar, transducer and GPS antenna. I am leaning towards Lowrance, comes with built in sounder, 4G radar and cost less than Simrad.. I wish Lowrance would want their stuff shown on a nice shiny boat at the show...

[spoiled one]

You should take a serious look at the Espar or Webasto heaters. They are much more reliable than the Wallas from my experience and many others. I have the Wallas cook top and a Wallas oven and they work most of the time, but can be fickle. My Espar has not required anything other than fuel. Have I mentioned that I love my Espar? Your kids would really like the oven for morning cinnamon rolls and afternoon cookies. A prime rib for mom and dad is pretty sweet as well.

[Chtucker]

The stove was a thought, but we didn't want to give up the room. We ended up with another bench for one person. I figured we would get a counter top electric toaster oven that we could use off shore power.

The newer wallas is supposed to be improved. One big benefit of the Wallas is that their US distributor is within a 1/2 mile of my work. I have had an Espar on cummins industrial diesel and it was hard finding help..

[spoiled one]

The stove was a thought, but we didn't want to give up the room. We ended up with another bench for one person. I figured we would get a counter top electric toaster oven that we could use off shore power.

The newer wallas is supposed to be improved. One big benefit of the Wallas is that their US distributor is within a 1/2 mile of my work. I have had an Espar on cummins industrial diesel and it was hard finding help..

Makes sense. Gotta go with who can service the unit. Costco has been carrying a propane stove oven combo for less than $300. I saw it in action a couple of weekends ago and was quite impressed. Storage could be a problem, though.

How long is your cabin going to be? Just trying to compare it to mine since the hulls are so similar.

[welder]

Ok, more questions about this foam vs. no foam deal. Can you not meet the requirements for floatation using watertight compartments like Stabicraft does? I'm aware that under 20' specific floatation requirements may necessitate foam but my question is why, if sealed air-tight compartments can provide the reserve buoyancy required, or is that even possible?

Enough posts here damning foam lead me to ask, for like Jetty & others, Ima KISS kinda guy. From first hand witnessing of a friend's glass boat which encountered a pointy rock exposing the foam cored hull and void filling foam, stuff is nasty and his was well waterlogged. I know of the closed cell foam now utilized and sold as impermeable to water absorption but how can it be more buoyant than a sealed air compartment? Size matters and it may well be that in the smaller boats that makes foam the answer but perhaps I'm just not getting this....

For those of us that don't mind "FOAM" we go with, IF the hull is compromised [ Hole in the Hull ] the foam keeps the water displaced and has more buoyancy than water hench your craft says floating, weather right side up or upside down, ya got something to stay on/with.
Foam also ads weight to the boat which makes for a little better ride on smaller hulls.
Foam also quiets the noise down, commonly referred as Hull Slap.
IF your foam is not installed properly or the wrong type of foam is used you can/will have problems BUT when used properly it should be no problem.
Also, if the foam is used properly, it can help strengthen some hulls.
It all has to do with hull and framing construction, the ability to drain water to the aft section [If any gets in ] and be removed and the ability to dry the bilge out if need be.

Foam can be your friend OR it can be your enemy.

I love my foam.

[goatram]

I don't want the foam. My boat sinks I don't want it back. She would have been used and Abused by King Neptune. Soiled in my mind

[Bob5292]

Definitely get at least two pumps with auto switches and make sure one of them is not a simple float switch. I have a Water Witch in my boat that has worked well so far. You will sleep much more soundly when you don't have to worry about your one lonely pump getting clogged with a piece spectra or some other debris that finds its way into your bilge. You can get two 4000 GPH pumps for less than a single 8000gph so there is no benefit to getting the 8000, which is just two smaller pumps connected to each other. If aesthetics is a concern, the 8000gph pump requires a 3 inch discharge, so that is a pretty large hole to put in the side of your boat. The 4000gph is 2" and the 3700gph rule pump uses a 1.5" discharge. Make sure they use high quality smooth walled hose. Not the cheapo ribbed crap that they push at West Marine.