: After doing a little research today, apparently the foot-pumps are
: somewhat slow and potentially awkward (if you are in heavy seas,
: don't you want to be braced in tightly, instead of removing one
: foot from its foot brace to pump with?) And yes, there is the
: issue of diminished foot-room. I was planning to use that extra
: space between my feet and the bulkhead for storage.
: So at this point I'm leaning towards an automatic electric bilge
: pump. See Gnarlydog's blog
: http://gnarlydognews.blogspot.com/2009/04/shop-electric-bilge-pump-in-kayak.html
: where he mentions somebody having had success with the Rule 500
: automatic electric bilge pump. Seems like it's fairly simple to
: install, compact, very reliable, and a no-brainer in a pressure
: situation. You can stay braced in and continue to paddle with
: the pump doing all the work for you. And, since it will be
: installed behind the seat, the installation and access will be
: much easier than trying to mount something so far forward in the
: cockpit.
: My biggest worry was the reliability of the electric pump, but from
: what I can tell the Rule pumps are quite reliable.
: Yeah, I think I'm pretty much settled on this.

The electric bilge pump isn't the problem, the battery that runs it is. Need to have a waterproof battery that's easy to remove for charging and secure when it's mounted to the boat and not weight alot. That's always been the problem with electric bilge pumps in kayaks.

Bill H.