Re: [Paddlewise] Pumping Out/Paddlefloat rescues

From: <Rcgibbert_at_aol.com>
Date: Tue, 29 Jul 2003 20:45:49 EDT
In a message dated 7/28/2003 4:42:04 AM Pacific Daylight Time, 
ptreby_at_ozemail.com.au writes:


> Look out, many words...
> 
> 
> A minimum volume cockpit doesn't prevent a reasonable amount of cockpit
> storage. Doesn't a sea sock make access to things stored in the cockpit a
> little difficult? (My inexperience with sea socks is showing).

Yes. It either sits on your lap, in a deck bag, or is stored semi-permanently 
behind the cordura curtain. If it is on your lap it can or will be lost if 
you bail out. A deck bag will be subject to the stress of surf. Behind the 
cordura curtain makes it dangerous to access in many boat designs, particular if 
the seas are up and you are not rafted up (IMHO).

I adjust my kit for sea sock usage. I bag my water and carry it in a pfd 
mounted hydration bladder. The risk is the amount of weight should I deign to 
roll, but it isn't that big of a deal. The deck bag I carry is fastex buckled to 
my deck lines and is a very low profile watershed, but not the one they sell as 
a deck bag. I think that one is too big, even. Leon Somme told me his chart 
clipped to the deck lines caught the full force of a boomer and stripped his 
deck lines from the boat. clean deck anyone? Or at least make the deck bag 
quickly removable.

> "tell me where I can buy "good" foot pumps that don't have these problems
> and can that empty the cockpit as fast as a stout hand pump."
> My foot pump is set up like the description at
> http://www.nswseakayaker.asn.au/ (search for newsletter #35, at "The Old Sea
> Dog's Locker) It empties the boat in around 10 minutes, from a full flood.
> That's a long time to pump, and sure you can cramp or get sore feet. You can
> also probably suffer similar difficulties hand pumping. With the usual
> amount of water in the cockpit after a re-enter and roll, the pump out takes
> about 6 minutes

10 minutes? Yikes! I think those were the ones Matt was talking about  ; ). 
The Henderson on my former boat was about 35-40 percent of that, though I'm 
pretty big and that boat was low volume. I have an Attwood D Cell on my Nordkapp 
Jubilee and it takes about 5 minutes. I do agree with Matt that I had to 
unhook a knee to make a foot pump work on the former boat. I also find the size 
12's are uncomfortable in that position but they survive multiple practice 
attempts fine.



> 
> Have you ever had a sea sock come off with the spray skirt? How secure are
> they? How do you access the cockpit storage?


No. The Feathercraft version I have has a neoprene lip and is quite secure. 
See above for retrieval of necessities.

> "With them I don't need no stinking leaky hatches filling up the kayak with
> water where I can't get to it behind the bulkhead."
> Well, build the bulkheads properly and use VCP hatches. Airtight.
> "I don't have a bow hatch spraying water into my glasses with every wave
> when beating into steep head sea either."
> I have never noticed this to be a problem. Spray comes from all directions,
> not usually avoidable, and not just from a hatch cover.
> 
VCP and NDK hatches are extremely dry. The Jubilee version of the nordkapp 
has them recessed and they do not kick up spray. The Khatsalano does throw spray 
but the roll up hatches have never leaked on me.

> 
> Actually, Matt, reading your response here, I would like to try a sea sock
> at some stage. But the main disadvantage of a sea sock seems, to me, to be
> that you can't use a foot pump with it! How about a design for a super sea
> sock, with built in electric pump?
> Cheers, PT.

The only scenario I could see for this working is a Lendal LV foot pump or a 
lightweight electric with the outtake sewn into the sock and the intake 
suspended high enough to not suck fabric. A reinforced area on the footwell would 
have to be able to provide stability for the pumping or the mounting of an 
electric. Then again, none of my experiences with a seasock would warrant it. They 
seemed to not take in much water and standard dumping gets it out quick. Water 
taken in by reentry is quickly taken out by a hand pump with the stability 
provided by a buddy rafted up. Interestingly, When one is seated in a seasock 
the vaccum pressure of the cockpit is usually sufficient to hold the fabric in 
place for reentry, though not always. They are not the be all and end all, but 
> 
> 
Rob G


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Received on Tue Jul 29 2003 - 17:46:12 PDT

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