RE: [Paddlewise] Current Info on Electric or Foot Pumps?

From:           	"Sisler, Clyde" <Clyde.Sisler_at_wang.com>
To:             	PaddleWise_at_lists.intelenet.net
Subject:        	RE: [Paddlewise] Current Info on Electric or Foot Pumps?
Date sent:      	Tue, 11 May 1999 10:56:02 -0400

> 
> What I'm getting from the thread is I can pretty much forget about a paddle
> float rescue in the same conditions that knocked me over.  If I can't stay
> in the boat to start with, how am I going to get back into it?  And if I can
> get back in the boat, there won't be enough hands to operate a manual pump
> and stay upright, assuming I can get the spray skirt on anyway.  (I paddle
> solo most of the time).
> 

You just jump on that soap boax any time you want, Clyde.  Your 
points --- and Colin's response --- are spot-on!  We've got ourselves 
into some sort of mantra in this country that paddlefloat re-entries 
are the safety baseline, and, having been trained that way, I bought 
it for a while, too.  But I don't now.

In defense of paddlefloats --- and I always carry a solid foam float 
on my back deck (and don't trust inflatable ones at all) --- they do 
have a value in a quick re-entry and roll scenario.  If you're out on a 
solo paddle in non-benign conditions and get dumped and can't roll 
up, the paddlefloat becomes the safety blanket to give you both the 
mental confidence and the physical bouyancy to get back up.  
Colin's points about the fact that knock-down conditions don't 
necessarily stay the same is well placed; unfortunately, however, 
conditions could also get worse instead of better.  

But I can't defend hand pumps, either.  I know that they can empty 
a flooded kayak quicker than anything else, and have timed it to 
make the point clear to myself.  But that's in benign conditions.  
An unexpected knock-down is scary, especially when you're out on 
your own --- the way you and I both paddle, Clyde --- and you need 
to get back in your boat quickly, get the skirt back on to keep the 
seas --- now a good deal closer to your cockpit rim than before --- 
from adding more destabilizing water to the cockpit, and get the 
cockpit emptied out so that you can continue to paddle or seek out 
a safe harbor.  A non-manual pump is probably your best bet, and, 
in bad conditions, may be your only bet.

Why do we perpetuate this paddlefloat and hand pump idea?  
Dunno.  To me, the minimal self-rescue technique anyone who 
paddles open water --- especially solo --- should learn is a paddle-
float assisted re-entry and roll-up.  And my preference would be to 
have that as a last ditch backup to a combat roll.  Without these --- 
and they're easier to learn than everyone says --- solo open water 
stuff isn't smart.

My opinion.  Now help me down off your box before I fall, Clyde.

Jack Martin
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