S/V Illlusion, I leave my boat in the water because I truly believe
boats are meant to be in water, not on land suffering from point loading. It is something I have done for 10 years without a problem. Where my boat is, there are many
boats wet stored, so it can't be that bad. My buddy who checked the boat while I was not in the area, is a well respected dealer of a well respected boat
builder, with 30 years of boat experience from
service to commissioning and selling. I also had another friend watch the water line. The
pump I used was the first of two pumps. The second is a
remote diaphragm pump with a float switch higher than the
Rule pump. That pump also has a small weep hole in the hose at the low spot, so about a cup of water drains out after the pump cycles. That hole is covered during the
boating season, it just is used in the winter. The Rule pump had a hose that went through a vent right over the side, shortest
route, rather than a distance through the
bilge to the transom. I should have installed it earlier so I could do a flood test, rather than just the test button on the pump. Then again, I don't use canned smoke to check the smoke detectors in my house, I just push the test button. After sailing larger boats (over 30') for almost 40 years, and doing most of my own
work, I feel I have the experience to make reasonable decisions, and those decisions are mine, and I accept responsibilty for that. I have sailed from Block Island to
Venezuela, and spent the better part of ten years in the
Caribbean, before returning to the US, so I also have some sailing experience. It is your fantasy that if the pump failed and the boat sank, I would blame WM. I carry
insurance, and pass my surveys with a minimum of suggestions from the
surveyor, and have been with my
insurance company for about 20 years. They may try to place blame if there is an event, but that is their thing, not mine. There is no heavy duty cycle that the pump would have to endure. These
bilge pumps are meant for maintainance dewatering, not catastrophic
leaks. The
batteries would not stand up to long term pumping, unattended, even with about 750 amp hours. What bilge pumps do you have in your Alden that are heavy duty cycle pumps? My disatisfaction is with dealing with vendors that seem not care about the customer. I take people I deal with at there word. The problem here is I didn't read the fine print of the warranty. I very rarely buy an extended warranty, and I purchased this on for some unknown reason, but when the situation arose, it turns out that $13 was less than
buying another pump, waiting for the manufacturer to send me one, as I wouldn't leave the boat unprotected. I read this forum to stay
current on the goings on in the boating/cruising world, and felt it was appropriate to relate my experience with a vendor that many use, and I am sure, some buy their extended warranty. I am an Apple user, and when you buy their protection plan, it is good for a time period, not that if you have to get a new
phone or computer under warranty that you have to buy the protection again. I was completely surprised by the WM response, and felt that should be passed along. For the Boutique boater, WM fits the bill, but for the serious, dedicated yachty, their business model is missing the mark, in my opinion, and after following all the posts, in the opinion of many others, also.
Linear Mode
Recent Discussions