Yet another ‘Ubiquitous Solution’ from the mind ofTom Lewis, Richmond, Virginia
De Water get in and you want De Water out – you need a De Watering De Vice The Coast Guard no longer requires dewatering devices to pass inspection, but having something aboard that can move water is worthwhile. Splash water - seas above 2 feet , the rogue wave - usually man made and out of nowhere, that magic combination of speed and wind that makes the space between the leeboard and hull act as a geyser into the boat,“dipping the gunwhale” – it doesn’t take much to slosh you. SPONGE / TOWEL – good for light de watering, but you’re not going to empty a wallowing canoe with a sponge or towel, but they can mop up and keep the errant bilge water at bay. MODIFIED 1+ gallon PLASTIC BOTTLE (bleach, cat food, litter) – decent for some accumulation, you cut away part of the  bottle to form a scoop, cut bottom out - creating a scoop with a handle. Keep the cap on. (Glue a piece of closed-cell foam or swim noodle to the inside to make it float if need be. It always makes a conveniant relief bucket. Ed.) CANVAS BUCKET 
In the hands of the right person, the canvas bucket can empty 1.5 gallons a throw. Collapsing flat it stows easily and has a myriad other uses. Even a rigid plastic bucket 2-5 gallons will take a bite out of a swamped canoe quickly  T HANDLED PUMP- These dewatering devices come in all sizes and diameters. They work, you can set them up – rope/bungee them in place - for one-hand use, but the T handle can be fatiguing if you have to empty any quantity of water. LOOP HANDLED PUMP shorter, larger diameter pump as above but the larger loop handle is much less fatiguing – shorter stroke. LITTLE SQUIRTER -These small syringe squirters are equivalent to towel /sponge, but they are great for getting that “last drop out of the boat” and provide endless squirting diversions among the fleet. BIG SQUIRTER -These large volume syringe type squirters throw about a half a gallon a squirt In 4 or 5 squirts you can move some water. They are not efficient enough for large volume, but they would be better than nothing. They also work great to clean off toxic waste, sludge (both kinds), mud or slime on craft or equipment or appendage. They come with the warning “ CAUTION, WILL REMOVE EYELIDS, ”so they also function as defensive weaponry protecting the canoe sailor against parenting swans/osprey, snakes, personal watercraft, fire, terrorists and non canoe sailing pirates - aaarrrrrhmen to that! Onboard, keep them extended to maximize their float time should one go over! AUTOBAILERS -I don’t know a lot about these, but they involve cutting holes in the bottom of the boat and installing a gate type valve that drains when you are going fast enough. Not in the cards for any of our Grummans. ELECTRICAL- an electrical pump system is relatively cheap, provides unattended pumping and adds minimum weight to the canoe. BATTERY- if you already have an electric motor on board, you can feed from the existing battery, otherwise either tape 2, 6volt lantern batteries together and wire as a 12 volt battery or purchase a small12 volt 7.5 amp hrs sealed lead acid rechargeable home alarm battery PUMP- there are numerous 12 volt bilge pumps on the market. 500 –700 GPH (gallons per hour) will empty a full Grumman 17 in about 20 minutes. These battery rigs will repeat the feat 3 or 4 times on a charge.  SWITCHES – a manual marine rocker switch allows you to switch the pump on and off from the cockpit area
A float switch mounted on the floor of the canoe will activate the pump whenever the water level raises the float switch arm.
A CHALLENGE – I am still looking for the constant use dewatering device that requires no power but the movement of the canoe itself. I envision dragging or mounting something either that works like the garden hose pump so a lot of water going through the towed or mounted device would produce suction on a smaller hose leading to the bilge. Or the towed or mounted device would be a tiny propeller driven pump with its intake tube leading to the bilge. |
