You have an above ground pool right? One way you can vacuum is to create a siphon using your vacuum hose (and a manual vacuum). Simply fill the hose up with pool water, plug the end with your hand and quickly pull it over the side of the pool to start the siphon. Note: this will remove water from your pool so it might not be the best idea in your situation. Also, you may need to try a few times to get the siphon started.
Another idea that may or may not work with your setup... I'm not familiar with above ground pools so I don't know if this is possible. With my (in ground) pool, the vacuum hose connects in the skimmer but it's not a perfect seal, so when the water level is below the skimmer it sucks in air at the hose connection in the bottom of the skimmer and the pump looses prime. What has worked for me is running a garden hose to the skimmer turned on low to keep the skimmer hole full of water while vacuuming.
