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Check out our South Florida Boating Guide!
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Small Boat to Bimini OK, so you don't have the excess funds to charter or buy that huge yacht for a quick run to Bimini for the weekend. Now worries. Here's how to safely take a small powerboat across the Gulf Stream to the island of Bimini in the Bahamas.
Small Boats Sink Faster. Duh! One of the drawbacks to small boats is that they are, well, small. And all things being equal, small objects fill up with water faster than large objects. If you intend to keep the ocean on the outside of your craft, which is always a good idea, hull integrity and adequate bilge pump capacity are critical.
Bimini water - some of the prettiest anywhere!
Exactly How Fast Are We Talking? To illustrate the importance of this, consider a small hole, just one inch in diameter two feet below the waterline. This tiny opening will pour almost 1,700 gallons per hour into your bilge! Unfortunately, most small boats are equipped with a single bilge pump rated at 500 to 750 gph hour. No rocket science is needed to determine the ultimate outcome. At best you’ll be totally swamped, at worst you’ll be treading water. There are simple things you can do to improve your bilge pump system. Add a second, larger pump to increase capacity - never rely on a single pump for obvious reasons. Replace constrictive corrugated hose will with smooth wall hose. Upgrade wiring with a heavier gauge to reduce voltage drop. Make all connections with proper crimps and seal with heat shrink tubing. Verify that your bilge discharge is high enough above the waterline to prevent siphoning into the bilge. If not, add a riser loop or relocate. To catch minor problems before they become major, add a bilge alarm which is nothing more than horn connected to a float switch set slightly higher than your regular float switches. Keep proper sized wood plugs handy.
The editor's first boat, a 22 Mako, heading across.
Upgrade Battery Systems To Power Bilge Pumps Once you’ve upgraded your bilge system the weak link then becomes the batteries. Higher capacity bilge pumps require additional battery capacity. Redundancy demands dual batteries, at least one of which should be deep cycle. Get the largest capacity batteries that you can reasonably fit in your boat. Since outboard boats are often stern heavy, consider relocating batteries to the console. In any case, do not mount them low in the bilge – if water enters the hull they will short out just when you need them the most. To keep them from becoming airborne missiles in rough seas, use heavy-duty aftermarket battery boxes.
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