> What proportion of active sea kayakers in North America would > use hands-free pumps, as against hand pumps? I can't speak for all of North America, but of all of the paddlers I know, only one has a foot pump in one of his boats. Nobody has an electric one. . > What do you actually use to stabilize, if you hand pump? > Cheers, PT If paddling with others, we usually raft up and get at least 2 hand pumps going if we have to pump. Since our air temps are usually warm, and the ocean temps vary between the mid 50's - mid 60's depending on the season, we can usually stay in the water long enough to empty the boat prior to getting back in. If you do need to stabilize yourself to hand pump, some use a paddlefloat on the paddle and just put it under their forearms while pumping. Others will brace the pump against or between their legs, pump with one hand, and use the other hand to skull. As we found out during that class, it also pays to practice paddling your boat while it is full of water. Steve Holtzman *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************Received on Wed May 19 2004 - 20:57:24 PDT
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