Emergency response preparedness

Water belongs on the outside of the boat, especially large volumes of water. If water is inside the boat it should be in a tank. If it's inside the boat and not in a tank.....

The scene: We're enjoying a few quiet minutes after dinner. There are still a few sips of red wine left in my glass. All is calm. All is good. All is quiet. Then we hear running water and both bilge pumps come on simultaneously, unusual because we have a 'dry' boat. Our bilge is always dry. Hmm, not good. We glance at each other, our pupils dilated. Synapses fire (in slow motion - we're in our mid to late sixties). In those few seconds the pumps keep running. Then we react.

If water is coming into the boat the obvious place to look is the bilge. There are three access points to our bilge but the best is the engine room. I whip open the port side engine hatch and see water a foot deep. I can hear the pumps pumping and more water gurgling. No time for photography here.

With a clear lack of forethought, I blurt out to Roma, "We are sinking". Never tell your wife that the boat is sinking.... unless you are absolutely certain. :-)

The climax to this story is anticlimactic. I spot the source of water. We have a burst hose on our hot water tank. Boring! Ten minutes later the hose is repaired, the bilge pumps have caught up and we're back in business. I can finish those last few sips.

Trimmed section of worn out water line.

There are several reasons we felt lucky for how this happened. First, the boat was stationary and quiet so we easily heard that something unusual was going on. Had we been underway, engine noise would have masked the sound of the pumps and the helmsman may not have noticed the indicator lights that indicate the pumps are running. Second, it happened while tied in a marina and right beside a freshwater tap meaning we were able to refill our tanks as soon as the problem was resolved - no water rationing required. And third, it provided us with an idea of how we should react if we ever have a really serious influx of water to the wrong side of the boat (knock wood).