Want to save a bunch of money?…I mean really big money?
Buy and install a really good deck washdown pump.
“Huh? OK, now John really has lost his marbles”, I can hear you say. But read on, this piece of gear could save you thousands of dollars, pounds, or euros every year.
The reason is that in cruising grounds where muddy bottoms predominate (most?), one of the worst chores is cleaning the anchor rode off with a bucket, particularly if said rode is chain.
So picture this: It’s the end of a long day. There’s a good anchorage but there is also a marina not far away. What are you going to do?
We have to be up early and gone in the morning and cleaning the chain means half an hour earlier out of bed.
But that marina is $3.00 a foot so it’s going to cost us $135 plus tax!
I know, but my back hurts and bucketing kills it.
Oh, OK, just this once.
Wait, it gets worse:
And since we are at the marina anyway…well, we might as well have a drink at the bar.
And later…
I’m pooped and don’t feel like cooking, let’s have dinner at the restaurant.
By the time you get going in the morning, your credit card has taken a $400 hit.
And pretty soon, despite the best intentions to always anchor out that you had when you started cruising, checking into a marina, or picking up a mooring, becomes a habit. A habit that can easily cost you five to as much as ten thousand of your preferred currency a year!
But, if you had had a good deck washdown, none of this would have happened.
There’s More
Of course, having a decent deck wash is only part of making anchoring easy. You need to put a whole system together that includes:
- An anchor that sets easily and that you can rely on not to drag.
- An anchor locker that stows all your rode without the need to hand flake it.
- A powerful windlass that works.
- A bow roller that lets you safely stow your anchor for sea by simply tensioning the rode and locking off the brake.
You can find out about all of that in our Online Book, Anchoring Made Easy.
The goal here is to get to the point that anchoring is little more trouble and aggravation than parking a car, as it is for Phyllis and me.
I know all of this sounds like a lot of work and expense, but when compared to marina charges—over 10 years, say 50,000 to 100,000 of your preferred currency—building and learning to use a good anchoring system becomes the deal of the century.
Tips For Washdown Pumps
Here are some tips for buying and installing a good deck washdown pump:
Hi all,
Sorry, for some reason I don’t understand, this post was initially closed to comments. I was thinking you lot were all still asleep! :-).
Fixed now.
Thanks to Dick Stevenson, for emailing us the heads up.
We tee off the water maker sea strainer. We found a couple tricks that help. From the enginroom forward it is roughly half the length of the boat. It pays to have a 19mm/3-4″ hose that runs forward instead of the usual 15mm/1-2″ to increase the flow. Next, the usual hose bib is very restricted internally. It must be full-flow as is the connection to the wash down hose. Hose nozzles themselves have different flow rates. So it’s not just the pump. We use a Shurflow Blaster pump without the usual restrictions and it works well. They are relatively cheap and rebuildable.
Now we’re coastal cruising in the Chesapeake where there is Lotsa mud so having a good wash down is imperative.
S.
Hi Scott,
I second your concern about flow restriction.. The first thing I noticed about the installation on Morgan’s Cloud was the tight 90 degree hose bib bends— on one leg there are two immediately connected. Unless they are substantially over sized relative to the capacity of the wash down pump it will only be delivering perhaps 80% of its rated output.
Secondly, the plastic 90 at the heart of the system may in fact be Schedule 80 CVPC, but similar fittings that your local marine supply sells will be much weaker. In which case I wouldn’t want loose gear or misplaced feet anywhere near it—. And on that topic I know of two sinkings during last winter’s cold snap on the Chesapeake that resulted from plastic thru-hulls or fittings freezing.
It would be interesting to know what kind of ‘plastic’ thru-hulls you are referring to. There are so many ‘plastics’: each with different characteristics.
Hi Pat,
The only plastic through hulls I would use are Marelon.
Hi John, I’m a machinist and have made thousands of different hydraulic fittings and threads up to 1 metre diameter nuts etc. We ordered Forespar Marelon fittings for all below water fittings and deck fills on our custom aluminium yacht, when they arrived they had pretty crude threads with casting flashes and measured 1mm out of round. I know if you do up a taper thread with goop they would probably seal, but relying on goop to cover for rough workmanship(although not uncommon) is not what i pay for. They where slightly offended that i measured their product up and rejected it but gave me my money back. I did use their deck fills and they have started to go from black to chalky white after 2 years. Check out the Kiwi brand TruDesign. They are certified, have better attention to detail, superior internal flow, nice threads and a good range of fittings. Large ball valves can be quite stiff but the trudeign ones on our stand pipes and under water line fittings are still silky smooth.
Hi Kraken,
Disturbing. Were the fittings that were so poor from the Marelon retail line, or the OEM line?
The TruDesign stuff looks very cool. Thanks for the tip.
Groco makes bronze threaded pipe nipples, their PN-Series.
Hi Michael,
Great tip, thanks. Here is a link.
Great post. Totally agree making it easy to anchor is key. With a good system it’s actually much faster and easier than docking – no dock lines, fenders, and power hookups to fiddle with on arrival and then put away when leaving.
We’ve been using the larger Johnson Aqua Jet pump with integrated pressure switch for a washdown pump and it gets the grime off the chain and has lasted through 3 years of frequent use. We cruise full-time and anchor out most of the time. We use the same model pump for our freshwater system, which means carrying one spare pump covers both systems. Another way to save on these kinds of pumps, regardless of brand, is to buy the spare for the pressure switch. When they fail, it’s often the pressure switch not the pump itself. Easy to swap out if you have one aboard, and much less expensive.
In the same vein, another way to save money with your washdown hose is to plumb it so that you can throw a valve to two to change the source to fresh water from your tanks. That makes it super easy and fast to give expensive foredeck jewelry like furlers, windlass, and blocks a quick rinse and reduce corrosion while away from dockside hoses. Matters even more in warm climates. No need to go crazy and wash the whole foredeck. A couple gallons will clean the expensive stuff and help it last longer. Just make sure you switch the valves back to salt water or next time you raise anchor your chain will be the only one aboard having a nice fresh shower.
Dear John,
For most of the cruising grounds where Alchemy has spent time, a wash down pump is as important as indoor plumbing to the head. I agree with all your points and have a couple of further to add, unrelated to saving money, but relevant to those considering a wash down pump.
Chain will last longer when able to drain and dry, dirty chain will retard this happening.
If you are in a smaller boat, like Alchemy, and sleep in the forepeak (connected to the anchor area), then it is best to get off all bits and pieces of seaweed, mud and sea creatures that adhere to chain and will produce a smell. Clean ground tackle helps maintain a sweet smelling boat.
In areas where there is little rain or dew, it is often hard to keep a boat clean. A deck wash can produce lots of water for cleaning (buckets over the side are just work) and is especially nice just before an expected rain storm which, even if brief, will wash away salt and leave the nice clean decks behind.
For chain, the nozzle is important as is the pump, the ability to get a sharp stream is not easy on some nozzles.
If you wish for double duty, and what boat owner does not, consider a salt water wash down spray nozzle at the galley sink: easily “Td” into a wash down pump set up. This is a huge water saver when in clean anchorages for dish washing and should not be neglected as a good aid in fire fighting as it can move a lot of water.
I have often looked at the adverts for the Groco wash down kit with envy (less so now with your frequent breakages). Our pump came with the boat, is 15 yo now and survived washing down the anchor & chain many thousands of times, maybe in 5 figures by now. It is a Shurflo Blaster, 45 psi, 3.5 gpm, pn 2088-534-244. More gpm would be nice, but I would not deem it essential. It just takes longer. Nozzle tightness of spray is more important in my judgment.
My best, Dick Stevenson, s/v Alchemy