Has it ever happened to you at 2 am, to wake up aboard your sailboat, sailing and resting your feet on the ground feeling wet? I think it is the worst thing you can experience, especially if you are moving or very far from the coast, which on the one hand is good, but in those moments you have little time to think about it … It has happened to me 3 times.

In the very interesting video on some techniques to avoid or avert the sinking of your boat, he explains one in particular that I find very intelligent.

The bypass to the engine between the sea cock of the engine with the bilge pipe

Really very interesting, The part of the video, where the boy explains how he created a bypass between the engine and his exhaust pump. Basically what he does: he uses the engine as a pump for discharging water into the sea inside the hull that could have filled the house.

He disassembles the hose that comes from the seacock of the engine for the salt water loading and connects it with a hose, the end of which is positioned under the floorboards and uses the motor to suck the water out of the cabin.

This video is also interesting because it shows the times in which the engine manages to let the water escape from the inside. On average in 2 minutes of power access without gear engaged, only in neutral, simply by going to the minimum it manages to drain all the water in the cabin in just under two minutes.

Is it really possible to bypass the sea cock and a flying tube in the bilge?

Years ago I learned to do it when I was with water on my knees during a transfer of a sailing boat, in the Mediterranean, between Savona, in Italy and Alghero in Sardinia. We woke up at 2 am with water to our knees and immediately realized we had some kind of leak on board, which was not identifiable at the time. My mentor at the time explained to me how to bypass and I did it with a warm engine. It worked really well and we managed to save the boat and our skin, being 30 miles from Corsica at night, tossed about by the waves and wind of a strong storm.

Sailing Nahoa

It is a nice YouTube channel, created by two guys, She and Him who have been sailing around the world for 5 years.

https://rebrand.ly/real-time-updates