When it gits deep, git a shovel | SouthernPaddler.com

When it gits deep, git a shovel

bearridge

Well-Known Member
Mar 9, 2005
3,092
4
way down yonder
I dont mess with the serius boat questions......'er the serius answers neither, but when me'n Brad wuz ready ta shove off on the Tuckaseegee last Saturday, the Kenneshaw Mountain fella showed us hiz pump. Naw....not one of them hydraulic dongerators like Medicalcare bought Dickey....it wuz a pump ta blow water outta hiz canoe. How bout that fer high technikle stuff?

He unscrewed some nuts off a cover ta show us hiz waterproof battery hole in the back of his foam seat. He hooked the wires up ta this tiny pump bout the size of a Egg McMuffin. The pump wuz glued in the bottom 'n hooked up ta a hose that run up ta a blow hole at the top near the tail end of hiz canoe. He showed us how it worked. My mind raced off in second gear. It reminded me of that time Capt. Ahab 'n Truthful Jack went off chasin' that albino whale all over the Southern Pacific.

I tole him that when the Paddlin' Geezer Canoe Clud went on expedishuns we didnt have no truble with water in the boat (cept that time on the Buffalo 'n that one time on the St. Mary in the high water), but I wondered if hiz pump would suck up 'n blow out......more solid stuff? He looked at me like I wuz nuts.

It wuz jest like that time when the Buddha wuz settin' under the big sycamore tree. It wuz all clear like a hot day in the desert. I wuz okay til I started paddlin' with a bunch of nuts. I drank expensive whiskey....sometimes scotch. I gave money ta charity. I didnt eat grits more'n two 'er three times a week. I didnt have sticky fingers. I wuz able ta leap tall buildings in a single bound.

Well, ya git the idea. I used ta tell the truth.

regards
bearridge
bodine college of engineers

ps Oh Master of Flowbizness....mebbe some kinda auger would work in yer pirogue? :mrgreen:

The real destroyer of the liberties of the people is he who spreads among them bounties, donations and benefits. Plutarch
 

swamprat

Well-Known Member
Aug 28, 2003
374
0
Venus Fl.
members.findmoore.net
gizmos

I've been thinking on those since last saturday Bearridge and I just can't see the benifit. Short of just being to lazy to pump out the water with a regular old bilge pump. Now way that pump would be big enough or fast enough to actually keep him above the water when it really counted.

I saw a couple of other open boats over at surfin rapid that had the hand pumps bungied to the side of the boat that made a bit more sense.

On the other hand. It was kinda a neat little gizmo if thats what floats your boat. ( pun intended)

Brad
 

Kayak Jack

Well-Known Member
Aug 26, 2003
13,976
171
86
Okemos / East Lansing Michigan
When I was eyeballing flare pistols at West Marine the other day, I saw some bilge pumps that run on 12V batteries (or, as my Uncle used to call them BAT-trees). One was 300 gpm, another was 600 gpm. That would empty a kayak or a canoe in good order, I'd expect.

Unless, of course, Bear's Buddy was nearby emptying his own boat over into yours.

Many instructors recommend a battery operated pump because when fit hits the shan - we're too busy to use a manual pump. We're already in over our heads, both figuratively and literally. In a kayak, a smaller pump should suffice. In an open canoe, a larger volume would do better.

I'm not sure how to waterproof all the wiring connections. That would seem to be a weak point.
 

dangermouse01

Well-Known Member
Sep 8, 2006
312
1
Palm Bay, FL (East coast)
While at the TVCC paddle school this June, on the last day, paddling the Hiawassee, one of the instructors switched from paddling his WW kayak and paddled his WW canoe instead. He had float bags in the bow and stern and one of those electric bailing pumps. When we stopped to "play" at lunch stop, he would turn that pump on and go and play/surf the standing waves. When he would get sideways you could see alot of water going into the canoe. But you could also see alot of water being jettisoned out the tube from that little pump. He would stay there for quite awhile, a lot longer than he would have been able to if the canoe was just filling up with water. I think it serves its purpose in that situation.
But on a regular touring canoe, probably just lazy.

DM