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Sea Kayaks Techniques Bulletin Board
Re: foot pumps and hand helds - - -
Posted By: Brian Nystrom In Response To: foot pumps and hand helds - - - (dan)
Date: Thursday, 30 November 2000, at 5:03 p.m.
: when i'm teaching rescues in situations
: where the cockpit is full of water, i have the rescuer stabilize the
: rescuee while clearing the cockpit with a handheld of about 80 percent of
: the water. that's sufficient to then have the rescued person get the
: sprayskirt fully on the cockpit and bale the rest with a footpump if he
: has one.I'm a bit puzzled about this and the following statement. In rough water, I've found it to be imperative to get the skirt fully on immediately once the victim is back in the boat. The hand pump is then stuck down the front of the spray skirt tunnel and the cockpit is pumped out. If I were rescuing someone with a footpump. I'd expect them to use that, or both the foot and hand pumps simultaneously.
: when performing rescues, you should be able to return the rescued
: paddler to a virtually dry boat given the kind of cockpit configuration
: which lends itself to that --- i.e, bulkhead directly behind the seat.Are you suggesting that the victim be left in the water until the rescuer pumps out the boat? Whenever possible, I prefer to empty the victim's boat over mine, rather than pumping the water out. It's much faster and far less tiring, since both the rescuer and the victim are sharing the work.
However, if the conditions are too rough for boat-over-boat emptying, I've been taught that getting the victim back into the boat with the spray skirt sealed is paramount. The rescuer then stabilizes the victim's boat while the victim pumps. It may take some time to do this, but I've found it to be a very stable position, even in surf. I've been the victim in this situation and while sitting in water isn't fun or comfortable, it's a lot better than swimming. If nothing else, simply being back in the boat is a big psychological boost.
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