In the summer my kayak lives on my van for a few reasons, the main two being no storage space and my overall health.
In past years I would go out after a storm, stand on a foot stool and use my bilge pump to pump out my kayak.
So yesterday in the pouring rain, my friend who believes herself to be a witch said, “get a hose like the one you use to empty your water bed”.
So this morning I reached under the water bed and cut myself off a piece of the old hose I store under there and took it down to my van and tried it out. Of course it worked.
Why couldn’t I have thought of that - a long time ago? I could kick myself now for not having figured that out two years ago.
Whenever you have a problem…
that has you stumped, take a complete stranger by the arm and ask them about it…
there is truth to the old saw: “can’t see the forest for all the trees”
Cockpit covers
Get a cockpit cover & you won’t have to pump the water out!
Guess you never syphoned…
… gas out of your dad’s car (or one of the neighbor’s) for a night out when you were a kid…
Rope
does similar trick, although much slower.
we just stole the whole car
For real.
Dad parked the car in a parking lot not far from the “student ghetto” area of Kalamazoo. It was very convenient.
Like the pumpkin though, it had to be back by midnight.
Once we put gas in it to cover our tracks but we forgot to broom out the sand from our feet. Dad asked us in his casual style, “I see you filled up the car this time but where did you guys take it?”
It was a hot summer night and we needed to cool off so we drove the hour plus to Lake Michigan and back while he was at work.
How do you suck on a rope?
Cockpit cover and a beach ball
Put the beach ball on the seat and the cover over it.
Andy
I’m sure you’re joking . . .
But just in case someone else doesn’t know, the surface tension of the water will siphon it out. VERY slow…
Flip it over
Erm, why don’t you carry it upside down? I carry my kayak upside down all the time. Not only is it rain-roof in that configuration, it naturally drains that last gallon of water on the way home and I think it actually stays in my car’s slipstream better.
Phreon
Faulty Cockpit Cover?
I was transporting my kayak home in heavy rain with a Harmony cockpit cover on it. I still wound up with a lot of water inside. The underside looked like waterproofing or something flaked off. Anyone else have this experience? (Maybe I should start a new post … didn’t mean to hijack this one.)