How wet should I expect the bilge to be

Sounds excessive to me. Learning if it's fresh or salt will narrow down the source. Mine came with a small Jabsco-Par diaphragm type pump with a low water bronze pick up but until I repacked the stuffing boxes it ran more often then I liked and was loud enough to frighten a T-Rex so I replaced it with a small Rule 800 that fit in the narrow keel area where the water had collected and since then bilge has remained 99% dry.

No, yes, and yes.

Latter is often an aspiration, and it may take you a while to track down and fix each water source... but over time, a dry bilge a useful diagnostic tool.

-Chris

It's been a while since the last post, but you have received some good suggestions. I have just joined YF and have a 95 Carver 355 aft cabin, which is essentially their 36' aft cabin on a 40' hull. The one I have does have three separate bilge compartments. The forward and aft are always bone dry. The center bilge should see only a very small amount of water. That section is also most likely where a leak is located: thru-hull water intakes, water hoses, drive shafts and exhaust hoses, etc. The fact that you are taking on that much water every few days suggests a continuous leak coming from one of the thru-hull connectors supplying the head(s), HVAC, or the engines. After installing your bilge pump get things as dry as possible and begin looking for leaking hoses, etc. You should also check your three bilge pumps to make sure they are operational. Mine had float valves that were not activating. I ended up replacing the entire units. If you are running the HVAC system, there is a pump that may need to be on to remove condensate water. Condensate will collect in the bilge if the pump is not on. On mine, there are two light switches located together next to the main HVAC control in the salon. One has a small green indicator light below the switch. That one is for the HVAC pump and needs to be on when running AC. Hope that helps.

I had a wet forward bilge, some water from heavy rains and some from the AC dripping condensation.
Can’t stand stagnant water and smelly bilges so I used a hand pump for a while, then installed a small 12 volt “sump-pump” plumbed into an existing through hull and an ON/OFF switch in the head.
Used a 3/8” clear hose with a piece on nylon bug screen on the suction side to prevent gunk getting in the pump.
It worked really well, dry bilges On Demand.
The little Amazon pump was surprisingly sturdy and kept running dry for 10 hours when I forgot to turn it of one day.
Had a spare on the boat, just in case..

That looks like a good deal for a diaphragm pump. Did that one come with clips to connect to a battery or any tubing? Noticed it comes with the clamps.

Nah, no clips, hardwire it to the panel over a breaker, or to the batteries with a fuse.
Clips are not good on a boat that moves and vibrates, clips be gone and maybe making a short.
Get used to running wires if you are new to this hobby.

The shaft logs, when properly adjusted should drip about every 5-10 seconds. Making them too tight will ruin the shafts. I always use packing with Teflon in it as I found it lasts a LOT longer with less need to tighten. I also have blue silicone hose sections clamped on them so when spinning the shafts do not fling water all over as I prefer them wet. Once had a yard replace them in previous boat with pickles but when one of them started with an excess "drip" when running the fix was not as simple as re packing.

Good to hear you have resolved your issues! C.P.