Leaky scupper holes

[YakDiver]

Seeing that there is a good possibility of us have poor mouldings in the scupper area I wonder what would happen if one completely failed, could we make it back to the shore before we had to swim for it.

Zzippy stated '10 minutes = one and a half mugs of water" that is not a lot when you think of the size of the kayak, but I would say half a mug was too much for the time spent on the water was only '10 minutes.

On my Cobra which is now coming up to 6 years old and "touch wood" has never leaked from the scuppers, but only from the hatches that were fitted with the wrong rivets and left a hole in the middle of the rivet.

Now the question is should we have a bilge pump of some description.

[SpeciMan]

A bilge pump may help. You could always rig up an electric one.. somewhere on the net I saw one fitted to a sit-in-side kayak.

 

At the least a couple of pool noodles or air bags (as used in dinghys) could be in the hull if theres risk of leakage. Last summer I stuffed a few in my Caper and removed the hatch in shallow water and completely flooded the kayak. Without me on it, the kayak didn't sink although the top part of the kayak was just on the surface. There was enough buoyancy to grab onto the yak whilst in the water and use the kayak like a giant swimmers float (kicking your legs in the water to propel) but it would be very cumbersome.

 

I think the best approach is dress for water temps, and wear a buoyancy aid with all the important survival gear attached to it (VHF, Phone, Flares,Knife). As well as flooding our yaks due to leaking scuppers there is always the chance we may lose contact with our yak if we come off it and we're paddling alone. Swimming whilst wearing a buoyancy aid can be slow going and there is always the chance that wind or current can take the kayak away from you faster than what you can swim towards it.

Edited March 1, 2006 by SpeciMan

[SpeciMan]

http://www.ukriversguidebook.co.uk/forum/v...ight=bilge+pump Edited March 1, 2006 by SpeciMan