Re: [Paddlewise] breath-operated pump

Hmm - interesting!  To fill up your container, you should consider setting 
up a siphon system: that would only require a "priming" suck. But there 
would be difficulty in getting the container at a correct height in 
relation to the water in the kayak!  Now if you could think of a way of 
using the motion of your paddles to work a pump....

Incidentally, I have a small open sailing boat which lies to a running 
mooring, and regularly gets loads of rain water in it (North West Highlands 
of Scotland gets a fair bit of rain!) A local chandler sells a great little 
pump which lies in the water next to the boat, with a tube into the boat: 
this pumps out the water through wave action (the waves move a float up and 
down). It is slow, of course, but it really does keep the boat pretty dry 
in all but the most torrential rain.

Nick




At 05:02 26/11/2001 -0500, Blaauw, Niels wrote:
>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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