Rule, rules, great little machine.

Here is my problem, I have water in a compartment in the bow of a boat, and I need to get it out. The water is in a place, that is both difficult to get to, and most certainly should not have been there in the first place, but that is a different story. We will see if the builder rises to the occasion, and corrects this defect.

I tromp off to West Marine store #63, and tell  my good friend Wayne Seel, who is the store manager, what my problem is. He excitedly drags me down an aisle, and gives me a small plastic box. Inside the box is a small bilge pump, attached to a power cord, and a flexible hose. It's the perfect solution for the problem, and like carbon paper, the mimeograph, telexes, FedEx, and E-mail, I don't know how I ever got along without it. About eighty dollars later, and after averring to Wayne twice that I am not buying the protection plan on the pump I go over to the boat.

This is what is in the little plastic case (click the pic for a better view). The pump is the red tube to the left. Coming out of the top of the pump is a 8' flexible hose, and a power cord. The power cord has adapters for battery terminals, a 12VDC accessory outlet, and coolest of all, in the lower right side of the case there is a rechargeable Ni-Cad battery pack, and a AC charger. The green thingy is an adjustable nuzzle that attaches to the hose .

The crux of my problem was that the pump had to drop into a four inch pipe, turn ninety degrees, and slide down the interior keel aft about 2 feet to the bottom of the bilge area. The traditional bicycle pump style bilge pump could have never gotten there. In less than 5 minutes, 20 gallons of water, that should have never been there, had been pumped out.

One of my many, and mostly ugly jobs are transducer replacements. These are often located in a sump location over the keel, and there is always standing water. I get a sponge, and bail it out, or I drag an extension cord into the bilge, and horse the shop vac into the already less than commodious bilge area, and suck the water out. This little Rule pump would do this in less that a minute.

So what else can you do with this little pump? If your salt water wash down pump corroded into oblivion years ago, you can lower the pump over the side, and using the adjustable nozzle, you can wash the fish guts, or uncle Harry's spilled Cabernet overboard. You can pump out that annoying place in the bilge, or transom where water always stands, and drives you nuts. And  how about draining a broken shower sump, or the fish box that does not completely empty. This little Rule wonder will pump 100 gallons on a charge, pumps 280 gallons an hour on DC power, and handles diesel, salt water, fresh water, and antifreeze. Just say no to gasoline, if you don't want to join those who are dearly departed. I don't know how I ever got along with out it.