| By Southern Boats on Electronics Bilging is an important part of preventing your boat from having its submersible qualities tested via sinking. Even if you own a submarine, you'll want to bilge for those moments when you want to be at the surface. Fortunately, there are pumps for bilging that make the task much less involved than it was 400 years ago. Now all you need is to know how to operate one of those. Difficulty: Easy Instructions Electric Bilge Pumps Step 1 Locate your bilge pump. Your primary bilge pump should be located at the lowest point of the vessel when afloat. For most craft large enough to have a pump, this means you'll have to lift a hatch and look at the hull. You might see a secondary pump, if you have one, a little further up the hull. Step 2 Find the three stage switch. The stages indicated should be "Auto," "Off" and "On." If the switch hasn't been cleaned in a while, it may be difficult to read the stages, which should be either right-to-left or top-to-bottom in the order given. Step 3 Change the switch setting to "On." If placing the switch into the "On" position doesn't activate the pump, turn it to "Auto" and lift the float. This should activate the pump. Step 4 Return the switch to "Auto" when you're finished, unless you're drydocking the vessel. If drydocking, turn the switch to "Off." Hand and Manual Pumps Step 1 Locate the handle. Since hand pumps look a bit like bicycle pumps, this should be a hand pump attached to the main cylinder. Manual pumps involve a handle, which should be pretty obvious. Step 2 Place the hose so that it dumps the bilge into a desirable location, not on your craft. Step 3 Position the bilge pump, if it isn't already, so that it's at the lowest point of the bilge. This should be where the most bilge is at. There may be a pump there, such as an electric, already. Simply position the manual pump where it will not interfere with the operation of the other pump, but nearby. Step 4 Use the handle to move the rod so that the pump begins to move the bilge through the tube. Essentially this will be an "up and down" motion, though manual pumps will probably move along an arc instead of straight. Step 5 Pump until there's an acceptable amount of bilge in the hull.      | 
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