Notice:
The advice given on this site is based upon individual or quoted experience, yours may differ.
The Officers, Staff and members of this site only provide information based upon the concept that anyone utilizing this information does so at their own risk and holds harmless all contributors to this site.
I believe my bilge hose is attached to the side wall with a small clip and screw and then is has the last 6" or so sitting on the bottom of the bilge. I am leaving a bit early today from work to go sailing and if I remember, I will take a look and report back.
But what is going on in the bottom of your bilge - What's growing down there ? The bilge, ideally, should be clean white with shiny keel bolts and nuts. if you have some leakers from rain , etc I would try to attend to those. I am not sure but would think that if the bilge is left constant with some water in it - seems like a perfect breeding ground for mold and that could irritate some individual's senses if staying onboard for some overnighters.
Personally, I wouldn't drill and screw into the side of the sump, even though I know it's pretty thick--there's water on the other side. Clipping, wiring, or zip-tying to a bolt sounds best. Use a stainless clip or wire to match the bolts on an '85.
Dave Bristle Association "Port Captain" for Mystic/Stonington CT PO of 1985 C-25 SR/FK #5032 Passage, USCG "sixpack" (expired), Now on Eastern 27 $+!nkp*+ Sarge
right, but what kind of clip/wire? I imagine something like the PEX hold-downs for radiant flooring, mated to some kind of circular spring clip that slides down the bolt, with tension, to secure...
The bilge hose is fairly stiff and in my boat stays put between the bolt heads and the sump wall without being tied down but if you feel its necessary then a zip tie to the bolt should do. I added a PVC schedule 40, 90 deg. elbow to the end of the hose so it would suck up the water down to the fiberglass. I cut some spaces out around the edge that sits on the floor so water will go through and acts like a screen for debris. My bilge is always dry so this spring I thought I would test the gussler pump. Turns out it had a broken diaphragm so it got fixed with the rebuild kit from Defender.
Scott-"IMPULSE"87'C25/SR/WK/Din.#5688 Sailing out of Glen Cove,L.I Sound
I was sorta thinking vaguely of a zip tie wrapped once around the bolt and then tied over the hose. No fabricating required. (?) Or maybe you could make a loop between the two bolts, going over the top of the hose--a couple of additional SS nuts could keep it from slipping off... (?)
It's always a good idea for us northerners to test the pump each spring--a little residual frozen water can do in the diaphram. To try to avoid this, I pumped a little pink stuff through in the fall.
Dave Bristle Association "Port Captain" for Mystic/Stonington CT PO of 1985 C-25 SR/FK #5032 Passage, USCG "sixpack" (expired), Now on Eastern 27 $+!nkp*+ Sarge
Another zip tie way is to put 2ties around the bolt. Slip another tie vertically between those 2 ties and the bolt then tighten them to the bolt. Now put the hose into the vertical tie and tighten it up.
Scott-"IMPULSE"87'C25/SR/WK/Din.#5688 Sailing out of Glen Cove,L.I Sound
Okay, I went sailing this afternoon/evening and checked out the bilge. I was slightly wrong in my above EMail as to the attachment point for the bilge hose. The bilge hose is actually attached with 2 zip ties very close to the end of the hose and these zip ties appear to have an eyelet at their end for inserting a screw. The screw is actually screwed into the bottom of the bilge and holds the hose securely at the bottom of the bilge.
Having said that, I agree with the other postings regarding not personally screwing into the fiberglass bilge bottom or side. What I would do is take a small block of wood or starboard and epoxy it to either the bilge bottom or to the bilge side adjacent to the bottom. Then attach a zip tie, etc to the hose and attach with a screw, screwed into the block.
Mine is clamped down to the bottom of the bilge with a couple of plastic clamps and ss screws. I thought it was factory, but maybe not. I did reseal the screws when I added an electric bilge pump.
I just wedged the tube between the side of the bilge and aft-most bolt, and then added a large washer and extra nut to the next-forward bolt to hold down the nose - end of the tube sitting flat on the bilge bottme, not moving
Notice: The advice given on this site is based upon individual or quoted experience, yours may differ. The Officers, Staff and members of this site only provide information based upon the concept that anyone utilizing this information does so at their own risk and holds harmless all contributors to this site.