[Paddlewise] breath-operated pump

Hi paddlers,

Every once in a while my fantasy gets the better of me and pops an idea in
my mind that I can only delete with large amounts of alcohol, but even that
didn't work this time...

I don't like handpumps, since I like to keep my hands on my paddle. My legs
are too long to leave room for a decent foot-pump. I think electric pumps
need too much looking after. So what's left? Breath!

I am thinking about putting a container behind my seat with a volume of
about 3 liters, that I can fill with water from the cockpit by sucking on a
tube, and then blow the water out by blowing on the same tube. Since you
can't put much power in sucking, the container should be low in the cockpit
and fill through large one-way valves. You can put quite some power in
blowing, so blowing the container empty through a one-way valve through the
hull of the boat should be easy. On the tube that goes to my mouth I can fit
a mouth-piece of a snorkel or scuba-breathing aparatus to get a good grip.
The tube to my mouth needs some kind of safety-valve, so I am not in danger
of sucking my lungs full of water.

Of course I need to keep breathing while pumping, but most of the time I am
not completely out of breath, so I have some air to spare. I guess it will
be like blowing up an air-matress.

My question is: Has this ever been tried before, is there a problem I
haven't covered in my wild fantasies, and is there a reason why it can't
work? 

(Any outfitter out there that would like to buy the idea or a prototype?)

Niels.


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