At some occasions I had to further empty the kayak with a handpump after a reenter. A kayak is vey unstable with water in it and, being somewhat older http://www.paddling.net/message/showThread.html?fid=advice&tid=1721388 , I have to be economical with my energy. But in water with some waves and the spry skirt not firmly closed water came in quicker then I could pump. And in the meanwhile I had to keep the bow more or less in the waves.
The solution was that I had to close the spray skirt, loosen the tip again so that the pump could get installed but I had to make shure that the rest of the spray skirt stayed closed. I made some clamps (the material is not important, my next model will be of thermoplastic polymer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-0y1I8-AAk a very handy material for all kinds of purposes). Ofcourse it is most important that, if necessary, the sprayskirt can be loosened fast and easy in the normal way. In the past weeks I did some real live testing and it seems to work fine.http://www.slideshare.net/paulnollen/kayak-spray-skirt-clamps Anyone some thoughts / remarks ?
I’d get the pump line mounted through
a separate aperture.
a waterproof zipper
in the front of the spray deck could be a nice try
Other options
Get a battery operated pump from someplace like West Marine that you throw in, or even mount depending of space available, and run the hose out from under the skirt. Have to lift the skirt to turn it off with your hand, but while it is emptying you can skirt up and paddle on.
Or install an internal pump. You can get the components including a water tight battery, where you hit a control for the pump with your foot. It does require putting an extra hole in the boat to run the hose out to. But you also get the benefit of being able to blow out like a whale and it looks funky.
Options
Get a spray skirt with a bail out whole. I have heard of them but never seen one, I assume there is some kind of opening in them that can easily be closed but like I said never seen one. I believe Reed chill cheater makes one and you can order these online. Reed is well known in England not so much in the USA.
Other option is to install Electric pump that has already been mentioned. I have electric pumps in 2 of my kayaks.Great when its rough and you need both hands on your paddle to stay upright.