Interesting…

I don’t remember how old I was or much of the other surrounding events, but I do remember one afternoon when my dad for some reason decided we needed to conduct a science experiment. (Odds are this was one of mom’s well-planned father-daughter interaction times complete with lesson.) We made a complete mess while learning how to create a siphon from water blocked up in the sink to a pot on the stove and back. I don’t understand the science behind it, but I did remember the basic concept. Hose. Water in location one. Moved to location two with minimal effort.

Science experiment application. It is late and I am in bed. Geoff has made a mess in the boat by forgetting he was filling the water tanks, allowing the tanks to fill and the bottom of the vberth to fill and overflow onto the floor before we notice a problem. Normal solution is to get our small shop vac and move the water outside one gallon at a time. However, I have no desire to climb out of bed to help with this process.

“Can’t you just siphon it into the bilge and then let the pump take it out from there?” I still don’t completely understand why the water doesn’t flow from underneath the vberth into the bilge in the first place. Who designed a boat where that area is completely blocked off without a tunnel to slide downhill under the flooring? There’s certainly space for one.

Off Geoff goes in search of a hose. I’m beginning to suspect that even this easier solution will require me getting out of bed. I finally point out to him that there is a hose right under his nose, the one that connects the air conditioner to the bilge, which can be removed for a while for this purpose. He claims he’s amazed its long enough.

The hose is filled and the siphon is stretched from the vberth to the bilge, the siphon action started and we sit and happily watch the water flow by the gallon without having to use the shop vac. Science success. Geoff may understand how it works, but I knew we had an air conditioning hose.