Bob England posted: "... A VERY large 120 volt automatic basement pump hooked to a VERY loud alarm and VERY bright red light when it's running would be a good addition to any boat left unattended and could also be used underway in emergencies..." Comment: Good from several perspectives!! Powered via an inverter when underway, such a pump could be automatically available even when a generator is not running. And a boisterous alarm might even attract some attention from marina personnel when dockside. About the only disadvantage I can think of is that a permanently installed pump is less available to assist others. But setting up a portable pump in an emergency is something I hope to never face. Float alarm switches in various bilge compartments have multiple advantages. They can be used to signal when a bilge pump fails, can indicate a salt water cooling leak into the boat when underway, and can signal the presence other fluids in the bilge like fresh water or diesel fuel. Above all they offer a preventive signal before things get too bad. After a diesel fuel hose ruptured a few years ago and I awoke to about 55 gallons of diesel fuel under my starboard engine (discovered from the smell) overflowing the engine "pan", I now have auxiliary float alarms throughout the boat and one under each engine. Tip: I previously posted about my UNSUCCESSFUL attempt to use a $12 (appx) D cell battery operated leak detector from Home Depot. It's designed to drop a pair of contacts on a basement floor under a water heater to detect any leak. I hung one in my bilge about six inches off the bottom and after a few weeks it began to alarm. I bought another...same result. I concluded that the bilge of a boat is just too damp for these. Another "great idea" thwarted by mother nature!!! My Dad and I assisted USCG personnel many years ago when an 80 foot or so commuter style boat ran up on a breakwater in NY. (Dad and I arrived first on the scene and when the USCG arrived, and they assumed we we part of the "crew".) My job was to keep the pump strainer clear from debris in the engine room. What a mess!! Once water gets a few feet high you'd be amazed at the stuff floating around. And any oil from the bilge or drip pans floats on the water surface covering everything, making it like ice to step anywhere. Extremely dangerous in rough water. So keeping loose things in your bilge and engine compartment secured is an unheralded way to possibly avoid clogging a pump intake in an emergency. I keep oil absorbant pads under my engines, spare pads at the rear of the engine room, a roll of paper towels, a couple pieces of foam for kneeling, a few pieces of wood for various emergency applications, a funnel and a plastic oil change pan for my filters....good grief!!!, I guess I fail this test. Perhaps a few weights on deployed pads, securing spares with a cord or storing them high in the bilge would be better. Rob Brueckner 1972 Hatteras Yachtfisherman