: Dean, thanks for the info. I have just finished an Artic Tern and was trying
: to decide on bulkheads or not. I think you have help me make up my mind. I
: was not crazy about the sea sock idea either. I plan on putting the rear
: bulkhead only in. I was told by a friend that you could raise the bow of
: an overturned boat up out of the water and dump the front half mostly out
: if you have a rear bulkhead. That is assuming you have a pfd that has
: enough flotation. Have you ever tried this? I ordered and have in
: possesion one rear bulkhead kit. I suppose I can put the rear one in and
: try it that way first. Thanks again for your comments.

I haven't tried this method, but in self-rescue practice in calm conditions, the kayak floated high enough without me in it that very little water got in anyway. If you push the kayak up as you flip it from alongside the kayak, not much stays in.

So much for doing calm-water re-entries. Now try it in some waves -- the kind that cause you end up having to do that wet exit! Even waves 2-3 feet high can wash into the cockpit as you try to get in, get situated, get your spray skirt on, and start bilge-pumping. The waves will cause your empty kayak to broach, so you'll end up parallel to the waves as you're trying to get in, and water will wash over the side and in the cockpit. I'll admit that I have not practiced self-rescues in conditions like I was paddling in today in Lake Michigan -- 20-25kt winds with 4-5ft waves which had me pretty skiddish as some of them broke onto the top of my kayak from the side! But these were the kind of conditions that were present when I, not foolishly, just naiively, ventured out into Lake Superior's Apostle Islands in a rental kayak (I had never kayaked before) for a 5-day camping trip. Two people -- our safety equipment consisted of one bilge pump -- a total of one, not each. I had to wet-exit twice, and both times, although I was rafted up with my partner and had emptied the water out, had to do quite a bit of bilge-pumping of the water that had entered the kayak while I did.

O.K., so enough of my horror story. It all depends on the kind of conditions you will limit yourself to paddling in. If you don't paddle in big water or go out on rough days, then this may not be much of an issue. I know a guy who built 2 very nice, traditional skin-on-frame baidarkas, and he only has float bags in the ends and no sea sock. He and his wife only go out on mild days.

One more thought: If you do take in a lot of water as you re-enter the kayak, all that weight will be foreward of center, which will make the boat very unmaneuverable. It might even make it hard, if not impossible, to pump it all out if the kayak is parked nose-down from the weight.

Dean