Hi all!
I'm Chris, new to the forum and new to sailing! Well kind of - I did some sailing with my dad when I was a kid in an Enterprise and crewed in the spring and summer races on Brisbane Waters on Juvenile Delinquent, a Bavaria 38.
I have just bought a 1980 (ish!) Triton 721. I would like to hear from anyone who can share information about this little yacht, especially with regard to through hulls and plumbing - my bilge has a lot of water in it and the original pump isn't hooked up! So my first job is to work out where to plumb in an electric bilge pump and to work out which through hulls are necessary and which aren't!
Hope to hear everyone's thoughts soon!
Welcome aboard.
Is it an inboard or outboard motor?, the stern gland could be the leaky culprit, or leaks through deck fittings are common. Be sure you have an adequate way of recharging the battery, solar etc.
cheers
Hi BlueMoon thanks for your quick reply!
Shebumi has a 6hp Yamaha two stroke outboard in her little well.
Going by the rust stains I imagine quite a lot of the cabin fittings are leaking!
My first job is to get the bilge pumped out but I don't know where to put the pump - it looks like the floor is double skinned and I can't see where the hose from the manual bilge pump is leading to! I think I may have to purchase a self priming inline pump to replace the original manual pump - which I imagine will be big $B.O.A.T$!
I have a N70 100AH battery to power the bilge pump and my work lights - I will soon be purchasing a solar panel and regulator to charge the battery. I'm thinking a 40W panel should be ok.
Select to expand quoteChrisJ1978 said..
Hi BlueMoon thanks for your quick reply!
Shebumi has a 6hp Yamaha two stroke outboard in her little well.
Going by the rust stains I imagine quite a lot of the cabin fittings are leaking!
My first job is to get the bilge pumped out but I don't know where to put the pump - it looks like the floor is double skinned and I can't see where the hose from the manual bilge pump is leading to! I think I may have to purchase a self priming inline pump to replace the original manual pump - which I imagine will be big $B.O.A.T$!
I have a N70 100AH battery to power the bilge pump and my work lights - I will soon be purchasing a solar panel and regulator to charge the battery. I'm thinking a 40W panel should be ok.
take a few photos and put them up some one should be able to help that way.. The manual pumps are good to have so you should fix it there are kits available or in might need one of the valves have a some thing stuck in it and or find both ends of the hoses inlet and outlet .
trace where the hoses lead to make sure there clear
G'day HG02 thanks for checking out my thread! I'll be back on the boat tomorrow after work so I'll take some pics of the interior then. I pulled up the floor panels and was surprised to see that there really isn't much of a bilge at all. Reading a short article I received from the previous owner it talks about double skinned construction and I think this water must be in between the inner and outer skins. The starboard side cockpit locker is only single skinned though and I can see some water sloshing around down there. I think I might have to do a contortionist act and get in the locker and try to pump the water out from in there to start with - hopefully the rest will drain back!
Solar panels are so cheap now, get a bigger panel and regulator. You can't have too much power. 
Your right the first job is to empty the bilge & any compartments that have water in them, to start with a clean slate, this will aid heaps in finding the leak sources. But it shouldn't be a big job. A big sponge & an ice cream container, or cut down milk bottle & bucket will do it for now.
That is a good point about something stuck in the valves of a manual bilge pump, I got a replacement kit for my manual bilge pump, but simply found something stuck in the valve, so at least I have a replacement now.
cheers
First job is to get a manual pump working. You need at least one to be working and a second one wont go astray. Do not ever rely on a 12 volt pump.
Hi Chris, I sailed an Enterprise in Botany bay and Middle Harbour in the 70s. Great little boat.
Good point Ramona - it's got two manual pumps but neither are connected or working. I saw Whitworths have manual pumps for next to nothing so I'll just grab a new one instead of rebuilding the old ones. Then I just have to work out where to connect it up. I'm back on the boat this arvo so stay tuned for pics!
Before you throw away the old manual bilge pumps, theres a chance they may be good quality ones, just not connected or need replacement parts, investigate that before spending extra money on what might be lesser quality gear.
Looking forward to some pics.
Ok so a successful afternoon of work yesterday! I got the cockpit locker cleaned out - the two manual bilge pumps were both cheapo plastic ones that were buggered so they got chucked. I used my new electric pump to empty out a heap of water - she sits up straight now - woohoo!
There's still more water in the bottom of the cockpit locker but there is lots of crud down there to block up my bilge pump so I'll have to get a net or something to strain it out before pumping.
I found a diagram of the boat which I'll post up so I can get your opinions on the best permanent location for the pump.
Apologies for the state of the cabin - I've already taken out a ute load of junk but there's another couple to go!
