Paddle Pirate:
Why do you keep the pump on deck in your Eddyline? What’s the difference between your Eskia and the Eddyline? What model Eddyline?
I’m just curious because I have a Nighthawk 16 and keep my pump between the seat hanger and the hull. The foam float keeps it wedged in there tight until I need it.
Paula
I just shove it in my rear
…deckbag. I paddle a CD Extreme which has a high foredeck and low rear deck. I like to keep the fore clean so as not to inhibit my paddling. The bag is low profile, is securely lashed to the bungees and is very reachable. I keep the pump, paddlefloat, stormhoods, food and water in the bag. It can’t be washed off in surf and probably would be a good place to wedge the paddle blade in a self rescue.
Get it off the deck
If you think bungees will hold your pump securely in surf, you’re kidding yourself. Extra junk on your deck is a pain and it WILL get washed off and become even more of a pain. It’s easy to store a pump under the foredeck or between the cheek plate on the seat and the hull, if your boat has sufficient room there. Wider boats can accomodate a pump behind the seat, but you won’t be able access it easily if you’re in the boat.
The RM Avocet cockpit floor has…
… two pump bungies, right between the legs. Actually, they aren’t mounted to the hull but to an extension fo the seat that juts forward.
It works surprisingly well, and does not particularly interfere with reentries. I have occasionally found the pump pushed out of one of the bungies after a reentry, but it’s easy to re-stow.
So, this bring up the question of setting that up yourself, custom-ly.
–David.
Sure That Ain’t
– Last Updated: Dec-12-05 8:02 PM EST –
a water bottle holder, like what you find in most white water boats?
But, what the hey? If it works for ya! :)
sing
I think
That if it has a pump in it …it’s a pump holder
if it has a waterbottle in it…it’s a waterbottle holder
and
if there is nothing in it…it’s just 2 bungies
sorry…couldn’t help it
I’ll be better tomorrow
two best places
on the floor in front of the seat and under the foredeck.
Not really
I’ve had to use my pump to pump out a SOT that had hatches that leaked.
I have a
Calypso, which Eddyline doesn’t make anymore. It’s kinda simular in body to the Nighthawk as far as I remember, but I’m sure they’ve made a lot of improvements. Very manueverable and you can pack for a multi-day trip and then some. Came w/a rudder. The way the seat is built and positioned, there isn’t any room for a pump to fit in between the hull and the seat bracket. It’s a hard plastic seat and there isn’t enough room to put a nice sized chain through that area for security. She’s still my baby, though.
The Eskia is a big bus. Very roomy, stable and can handle swells like an aircraft carrier. The down side is what it has in roominess, it looses in storage capacity and it tracks like a drunk Quartermaster on a winter Alaskan patrol w/o that rudder down. Great for breakin’ trail through ice, though.
I was in the area during the Thanksgiving weekend. Didn’t have my yak so I hiked the Elwha, then snow shoed up on the Ridge. Those trips are becoming more frequent. Maybe we can paddle sometime? Spent many a day paddling Freshwater Bay and surfing the pilot boat wakes off the Hook. Miss it.
Tis true…
though if it’s originally shaped for a water bottle, there’s a molded plastic form that doesn’t fit a pump. Here’s where the miracle of minicell comes into play. Can shape pieces to give the pump a more secure (as not get knocked around) fit.
Also, instead of installing with rivets or glass on another underdeck clamps for a pump holder, I used shaped minicell with velcro straps to do the same. The advantage is ease of installation and removal if one doesn’t like it. Disadvantage is that if it keeps getting bumped around, eventually the glue may seperate and require another application of cement every so often.
sing
On the roof is handy !
It gets more use here than any place.
http://community.webshots.com/photo/94051241/94051241JgMgbq
Cheers,
JackL
jack
I assume the bottom of the ladder has rubber feet?
Agree that
everyone should practice paddling with a cockpit full of water. By the end of a lot of training last season I was getting pretty used to it. And, when on the ocean or on big lakes that gets stuff, like Lake Champlain, we are increasingly paddling with people who are unlikely to need my pump. There’s been a big boost in paddling skills among a lot of folks locally this last year.
However, we still also are on paddles where we may have a combination of events where it is most important to get someone back into the boat then worry about emptying it (had that happen in some slop because the person was starting to get a little asthmatic), or could have a beginner out on an evening club paddle in a rec boat with little to grab onto for a T-rescue, a huge darned cockpit and less than ideal immersion wear. There’re only so many tons of water I can empty out of a rec boat in a T-rescue, even with hooking the other boat over my side and using a flick to bring it up.
The general idea of what we do, or not, to accomodate other paddlers keeps coming up, and I am not sure why. Some of us paddle in situations where the spare pump, or other rescue device or clothing, could come in handy and have made the decision to be ready for that. It doesn’t have to apply to anyone else, it is simply part of the list of things that are on your personal “must have” list. So, when equipment questions like this come up, it is going to be part of my answer.
If I were still woking…
OSHA would require a safety belt too, but now I can tell them where to go!
Cheers,
JackL
Hand Pump Storage
This is a basic but good question. I have been keeping my hand pump on the deck of my NDK Explorer but would like to store it in the cockpit if possible. I’ve seen a few people with Explorers fit the hand pump between the seat and the hull (usually on the side of the seat). I’ve never been able to fit mine there. Has anyone with an Explorer used this method, are some modifications required or a particular brand of pump that is narrower in diameter?
Thanks so much,
NJP17
just joking
something happened to me in the last 15yrs,I used to love climbing up on top of the van tieing down kayaks. And now I look at the photo and think,“hope the ground isn’t slippery”,
oh woe,I’m not 19 anymore,boo hoo,hoo
I like the ideas…
I like the idea of storing it under the foredeck, secured with bunjis.
Does anyone have some good tips on how best to anchor some bunjis to the inside of your deck for securing your pump or whatever else?
I also like the idea of drilling out my knee tube. I may do that, but I am looking to get a different boat soon (Aquanaut) and I am not sure whether it has a knee tube or not and I may end up in the same situation again.
Matt
Must have been a really big leak
Have an old scupper pro that I use to regularly punch out thru breaking surf and didn’t accumulate enough water to warrant a pump.
minicell foam holders in lieu of bungies
Hi Matt,
I store my hand pump under my fore deck, but I do not use bungies. I found Brian Nystrom’s tips and pics extremely helpful. I fashioned custom holders out of blocks of minicell foam. Using Woodweld gel contact cement I glued them up under the foredeck. I can get the pump out one-handed. Pretty slick.
This method will work on any composite boat unless you have a knee tube already mounted there.
http://community.webshots.com/user/brian_nystrom
Safe paddling,
Joe
alternative for some RapidRunner bilge
Try Rapidrunnerbilge.com !!!
Posted by: Evans on Dec-13-05 9:50 AM (EST)
Pumps, hand, foot, etc. The topic is sometimes not understood by novice and expert alike.
- Given even for experts in rough seas, the prospect of being knocked over repeatedly is significant and that once the roll fails a wet re-entry is needed. Often multiple times in very bad conditions, with a hypothermic paddler, etc. Assisted recoveries sometimes also require a wet rentry, that is slip them in and up and then pump out rather than empty the boat first.
- A pump must be able to be reached easily during these circumstances, and it must be stowed securely as well or it is of little or no use.
- There are situations in which a hand of foot pump simply fail. Most foot and hand pumps are also quite slow, slow in that they require allot of pumping. Hand pumps require taking hands off the paddle, not easy in rough seas. Foot pumps allow for paddling but can lead to calf cramping and leg exhaustion especially in today’s smaller volume kayaks.
- Thus for extreme uses, ocean crossings, solo trips, extra safety margin I use now:
Rapidrunnerbilge systems LIPolymer electric bilge. The battery weighs 10 oz. it is in its own totally waterproof package and that is inside a waterproof box located in front complartment or day compartment. The pump and outlet weigh about the same. It has a totally wateproof foot swith. It will empty a full cockpit of water in less than 20 seconds and one charge of the battery will make it run continuously for about 8 hours, quite all few cockpits full. It takes 6 months to self discharge, comes with a car charge adaptor and can be trickle charged by solar panel too. The usual knock with a system like this is unneeded complexity, possibility of shorting, experts don’t need a bilge.
I find that aside from emergencies is is just so wonderful to always have a dry cockpit on day trips, instructing, practicing rolls, sculls, recoveries, etc.
I love it. I had a foot operated pump and they do work and in roomy cockpits with leg room to spare I think they are functional. For me they cause cramps and I could only empty my boat once this way before I had trouble. That is why I went to this system. Definitely not for everyone but I unequivically recommend this system.
Evan
www.rapidrunnerbilge.com