Hi there, so after posting here before about foot rest set ups I’ve decided to move the bulkhead to the appropriate place to act as a foot rest. But I’ve run into another problem!
I’m planning on a long 1500km solo expedition in my boat and the built in hand pump is just not going to cut it. If I’m in water that’s rough enough to get me out of the boat, taking one hand off the paddle to awkwardly reach around to pump out the boat with 60 or so pumps is going to likely have me back in the water!
So I’m thinking of getting a foot pump installed, potentially using the output hole of the current pump set up. The other perk to this is moving the rear bulkhead up to just behind the seat which would give me room for a smaller hatch just behind me and therefor less water to pump out if worst came to worst.
My question is what foot pump would you recommened? And what is the best way to mount it to allow me still have a large footplate rather than small pegs?
I have a great fiberglass boat fixer near me so will have a professional doing the job just want to know what to be asking for.
Haven’t used a foot pump, so providing comments from the peanut gallery. So feel free to ignore.
Foot pumps and built in hand pumps seemed to be a thing back in the 80s or 90s. Haven’t been that popular since.
In the 2000s, electric pump seemed to be trying to take over.
Neither has passed the test of time. Because of this, I wouldn’t consider getting one.
And expeditioners all do fine with a standard (non-built in) hand pump.
That said, if this Nordkapp HM has the small “ocean cockpit”, they also haven’t passed the test of time. Nor the tiny, round hatch openings that some of these had. Nor the fixed skeg. If the boat has these, might be worth getting a more recent version. They are great boats and people who have them generally love them, but the later models have the changes away from the features that proved to be less popular.
Moving Bulkheads to precise locations, creating day hatches where none existed, I was beginning to worry, I am glad you said you were working with a pro.
I have a Nordkapp HM which I bought new in 1986. A few years ago I had the rear deck pump removed and a bulkhead placed right behind the seat. Creating the smaller day hatch. The amount of water that gets into the cockpit is significantly reduced. I also have a knee tube under the deck in the cockpit for storing things I might need on the water. It is a great kayak but climbing in and out on a daily basis can take its toll so I tend to use it on shorter trips with groups.
I have a long trip this summer and are using a Nordkapp LV, much easier to get in and out of and so much easier to pack. It still has a good forward speed and so much easier to turn. Although it has a drop down skeg it is rarely needed.
I hope that helps.
Kevin
Unfortunately, not to answer your direct question, but I agree with @Peter-CA in that they just aren’t used much anymore (never really were).
In a trip up the Aus. coast years ago, one morning coming out of the inlet at Forster/Tuncurry into the surf I got stuffed pretty good, spray skirt popped.
After rolling back up, I was concerned that - in the washing machine that I just went through, my hand pump - secured to a knee tube, might have been washed out. Luckily it didn’t.
However, it worried me to the point that at the next town I stopped in, I ordered a foot pump to be shipped to a town further on my way (unfortunately don’t remember where I ordered it from - I think it was from NDK).
I also bought another hand pump to be carried as a spare.
I didn’t get the foot pump until near the end of my trip, so never installed it (I forget what I did with it, but no longer have it).
After that, on long trips (multi-month) I always carried 2 hand pumps (one secured to deck, one kept in a bulkhead. (never did use a foot-pump)
I paddled a Nordkapp HM in the 80’s.
The way I handled pumping out was to hold the paddle behind my back and skull while pumping out with the other hand. But, as you said, the pump was very low volume, took too long)
I hear what you guys are saying but I’m thinking if it is calm enough that I can skull one handed to stay upright I would hope to not have missed my roll enough to have to do the re-entry and roll with a swamped boat. Also the built in pump taking 60 or so pumps is just too much time in what would be rough conditions.
I assume that is a sea kayak with a nominal size cockpit, what would cause the spray skirt to “pop”? I thought your spray skirt was your last protection, how can it fail that easily. I did see a guy getting ready to do a180’ drop and he had two tensioning levers on his spray skirt thst tensioned and released.
Spray Skirt implosion is uncommon when a good neoprene skirt is used with a kayak with good coaming and a competent paddler at the helm in less than a heavy surf.
I can’t profess to be the most competent paddler out there, and my sprayskirt at the time probably wasn’t the best for conditions, (was using a very seaworthy sea kayak - NDK Explorer) - but that was the situation.
My mistake in that situation was paddling into those conditions:
night
paddling out a stong ebb tide from inlet
incoming surf opposing ebb stream
My mistake was continuing on the ebb stream, when I could have broken out of it soon after entering the ocean. I was going so nicely and fast, I didn’t want to get out (hoped for the best - lost).
I am not so concentrating on the judgement mistakes, those things happen, but on the mechanical aspects. The Spray Skirt is supposed to be there to compensate for judgement mistakes, it has to be reliable. Now I realize with these rec kayaks with humongous cockpits the spray skirt is going to implode. But in a quality sea kayak, NDK, with a relatively small cockpit, what would make a spray skirt implode? You say it is a rarity, but it happened to you. Was it a light weight spray skirt, not neoprene? If it is neoprene and all the other factors you mentioned are met, you do not have anything to worry about? I would not want this to happen to me, the shock of the unexpected might throw me off.
I don’t know what caused it, other than ‘water pressure’.
It could have been the initial breaking wave (similar to a heavy dumping surf caused by the ebb hitting the surf), or happened when I was under water (upside down), being driven down (underwater for what seemed like forever but was probably only several seconds). When I resurfaced, rolled up, the skirt was off.
On that trip I used a Wildwasser (Prijon) Solstice V-Tec.
It used a ‘4-way stretch’ material, but not neoprene.
On a later trip (and have always used since then) I used a Reed Chillcheater Aquatherm SpraySkirt (a ‘rubbery’ skin like material). I did a lot of testing with it and while it will implode easier that a full neo skirt, it is quite good for less than heavy surf.
maybe, maybe not - but they are a good lesson for the future
One of the best WW skirts - the ‘IR Lucky Charm Rand Spray Skirt’, has in the description:
'An implosion resistant skirt for expert paddlers who primarily run big water class V or regularly run 30ft+ waterfalls and value security over dryness.’
You mean, if a Spray Skirt really holds but you get caught upside down, you could be in trouble? That’s nice, you have to pick between the Spray Skirt imploding and being trapped. I better stick to the bayous.
Here is a video showing an incident where at least 2 paddlers’ skirts imploded (and 1 hatch cover) due to breaking waves. All had heavy-duty neoprene skirts (though likely bungees, not rands).
Note - the video clips put together are not necessarily in chronological order.
Here is a picture of Sergey paddling his very flooded boat out to safe water where a T-rescue could drain the boat.
Note - rands can be dangerous on composite boats, as they sometimes will not be able to release from the combing. Chances are the Nordkapp in the original post n this thread as composite so a randed skirt for that would not be recommended.
