Galley sink saltwater foot pump?

[Parrot Adventure]

Hi all -- we own a little 1981 Albin 36 dual cabin trawler, are the third owners, and have had the boat for four years. The boat is in overall excellent condition, and part of the incentive to purchase was it has aluminum fuel tanks (which replaced the original steel tanks), a fuel polishing system, a water maker, a wind generator to power the anchor and salon lights, radio, and 12 VDC fridge on the hook, and the exterior teak decks (main deck and flybridge) were removed and replaced with fiberglass. The original retired owners used the boat to cruise and added those upgrades for Bahamas trips, as intended, and because we are younger with young kids, we use the the boat more as a floating weekend getaway home and for occasional trips to the Keys when the kids are on summer break. In reviewing the galley layout of our Albin 36 DC, I see a void under the bottom right of the sink just above the salon sole where there was originally a foot-activated saltwater pump. Topside on the sink, there is a dedicated separate faucet for washing dishes using seawater. Do any of you fellow classic Albin owners have and use such a saltwater pump for washing dishes? I can see the rationale and benefits in saving both freshwater as well as battery usage in running the 12 VDC freshwater pump when doing dishes on extended voyages, and I can easily tee into the existing seawater line which currently supplies seawater to the 3.5 KW Genset. I'm now thinking of installing a "Whale Gusher Galley Pump," and we would only use the saltwater foot pump for dish washing during those times we're offshore or in areas of clean seawater (i.e., not in crowded coastal harbors or marinas). From what I've read on cruiser forums, one uses the foot-activated seawater pump to initially rinse and wash the galley plates and then uses freshwater as the final rinse of the plates. Thoughts? Thanks, Mark

[rebuckley]

I will take a pic of ours later this yr - we have the dedicated faucet, but the pump is the handle on the faucet - - pump like crazy, and pulls in the seawater. Under the sink, we have a hand bilge pump (on the left side I think?) - which is 't-ed' into the same exit as the sink drain. I think it (the salt water faucet) has always been more of a conversation piece vs. functional .... Like you - ours is more of a weekend floater and not extended runs.

[psneeld]

I have a saltwater washdown system for the anchor that also supplied the heads...so I would use that rather than a foot pump.