Everything orderly devolves into chaos. That’s the principle of entropy. Mountains tumble, ravines fill up, walls collapse. And a sailor’s feet will eventually get wet. The hull, deck, and coachhouse of your boat—although conceived intelligently, built thoughtfully, and maintained lovingly—will admit water at some time, be it a drip directly over your bunk or a torrent into the bilge. Boaters accept this predestination and prepare cleverly for it: The prudent mariner is ready at any time to pump ship.
Since the Pharaohs floated upon the Nile and before, sailors have spoken this truism in many languages: “The best bilge pump is a scared man and a bucket.” A stout bucket, worked desperately, can shift a mighty amount of water.
Our best advice features no high technology: seize a large-volume container and pitch water out—through a hatch, into a self-draining cockpit, or over the side. Know where that bucket is and how you plan to use it. It’s the cheapest and most efficient water expeller you can have, and you can use it to wash dishes and decks, too. Two buckets and two crew members, sufficiently motivated by water coming, say, through a collision rift in the hull, are even better.