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Is it possible to empty the ballast tank by pumping out the water (think bilge pump)?

This is the situation. The boat (a 26X) is in the water, with the transom valve closed. The good folks at the marina just pulled it out of the water for maintenance and put it back in. I asked them to empty the ballast tank and close the valve, and they said they did. They usually do excellent work, so I have no reason to doubt them. The ballast tank should be empty.

However, yesterday I tried to tilt the boat to get to the top of the mast (to see whether there is a problem with the jib halyard). I remember that a few years ago I did it once, to recover a wayward halyard, and I could do it rather easily by myself. I even mentioned this a few weeks ago in another thread on this site. Yesterday, I couldn't do it, not even close, and there were two of us. I wonder whether the tank is still partially full. Sticking a finger as usual in the vent hole I could not touch water.

Is there a way to figure out whether a tank is only partially full? And if so, is it possible to pump the remaining water through the vent hole? Has anybody tried to do that? This would be a one time only thing. After the check of the top of the mast I would open the valve, fill the tank, and leave it full for the foreseeable future.

I know there had been discussion on this. In the meanwhile, can’t you take the boat out for a quick five minute motor ride to empty the ballast?

P.S. I found this in the Mods section. There might be others? https://macgregorsailors.com/mods/index ... tem&id=654

I hope this is an appropriate mod.

It's possible that your ballast valve is leaking and the tank filled with the valve closed.

Jeff

C Buchs wrote: ↑Tue Sep 17, 2024 1:54 pm It's possible that your ballast valve is leaking and the tank filled with the valve closed.

Jeff

^^ This happened to me this year.

Launched the boat, no ballast. Put it in the slip and went home. I couldn't get back for weeks and when I did, the ballast was full.

Hi Ammiraglio!

IMHO I don’t think a bilge pump is gonna help much unless it’s a self priming positive displacement type pump…(kinda rare type of bilge pump)… regular bilge pumps are normally are centripetal types where they have to be actually sorta submerged in the body of water to be pumped…they don’t suck much at all.

May I suggest that you consider using a different approach and use an air pump to push the water out?
Rig up a port to the ballast vent so you can connect a LOW PRESSURE air pump like the kind used for inflating air mattresses.
Open the ballast fill/drain valve then turn on the LOW PRESSURE air pump.
Run the pump until you see bubbles coming out of the fill/drain valve… then gradually close the fill/drain valve to get as much of the water blown out and immediately turn off the LOW PRESSURE air pump.
Your ballast tank should be pretty much emptied of water at that point.

Also, why not just lower the mast?
It’s not hard and a whole lot safer than trying to tilt over your boat.
Tilting over places an enormous strain on your mast and rigging it wasn’t really designed for and when your doing it you’re effectively loading a “mousetrap” or “catapult “ that you really don’t need to. It’s just not worth it to put your self, your boat and others at risk if you slip or something breaks… everything can change in a heart beat. Be safe. Most “accidents” really aren’t.

Best Regards,
Over Easy

I am using a 10.-- matrass 12v blower. I put it directly into the ballast tank whole in the bow. Open the big valve outside. This way it drains the ballast Tank completely.

Ammiraglio wrote: ↑Mon Sep 16, 2024 3:20 pm
Is there a way to figure out whether a tank is only partially full?

Insert a dry wood dowel in vent hole. If the dowel gets wet, the tank is not empty. Old tech, but works.

I recently emptied the ballast tank for my 2002 26X through the hole under the v-berth using a couple of pieces of hose and a 3 gallon per minute 12 volt pump. This is the third or fourth time I have done this. It took about 75 minutes. (The ballast holds about 170 gallons of water.) I drained the water out of the boat through the sink in the galley. I then took the boat out of the water for painting. When I opened the ballast drain on the stern when the boat was on the trailer, only a few ounces of water came out.