[dgax65]

I've got a few ideas on this topic as well.

Having an electric bilge pump will not solve all your problems. Like any electrical equipment on your kayak, it may fail. There are a number of things that you can do to make sure that it will work when you need it. Use marine-grade wiring and components when wiring your electrical system. Put the battery and bus bars/terminal boards in a waterproof box. Weatherproof all the wiring external to the waterproof box. Even if you don't take on water, every time you use your kayak it is exposed to salt air and high levels of humidity. All exposed electrical components/wiring/connectors WILL corrode if you don't protect them. Either use heat shrink butt connectors or liquid electrical tape on your connections. If you have an exposed conductor that you can't seal with liquid electrical tape, use a heavy coat of dielectric grease or a product like Fluid Film to protect it. Check the wiring/connectors/electrical components on a regular basis. Clean and repair those items as soon as wear or corrosion is noted. As Jim Day said, our kayaks are getting rigged more and more like boats. You have to treat them with the same care and respect as a boat.

You should always have a manual backup means of dewatering. Keeping a hand pump inside the hull might not be the best idea. If you have already taken on a significant amount of water and your yak is unstable, opening that big forward hatch to get to your pump might be disastrous. I always keep my hand pump leashed on deck, where I can reach it in a hurry. Only open the hatch with the greatest clearance from the waterline. The rear hatch on an X-Factor or the center hatch on a Prowler might not be the best to use for dewatering. A small shift in balance or a stray wave might put that open hatch under water while you're pumping.

Don't let your kayak fill with water. That sound obvious, but look at the posts about yak sinkings and leaks. I follow over a dozen kayak fishing forums around the country and the world. I have seen lots of reports of kayak leaks, swampings and sinkings. In many cases the yakker reported that he didn't notice a problem until the kayak took on enough water to affect stability. That is usually too late for easy corrective actions. Obviously, a large leak will swamp a kayak quickly; however, most kayaks don't have catastrophic hull failures. Usually, it is a small crack or hole at a weak point on the hull. Your first line of defense is to regularly check your kayak for damage. Get in the habit of routinely checking the hull before use. On a dark beach at 0400 in the morning isn't the time to look for hull damage. Do it before you load up. Check the usual suspects: scupper holes, seams, through-hull fittings, wear spots on the keel, rudder mounts, around the Mirage Drive on Hobies and internal bait tanks and their plumbing.

Learn how your kayak sits in the water. I know exactly where the water comes up to on my scuppers with the standard load on my kayak. I make a habit to check the water level frequently. If you have to, mark your normal waterline with a Sharpie marker. Immediately check for leakage if you are sitting more than a 1/2" lower than your normal waterline. Again, this sounds obvious, but you would be amazed at how often guys are taken completely by surprise when their yak is taking on water. Your initial indication of taking on water shouldn't be falling off of your suddenly tippy kayak. Learn the warning signs. If you have to, paddle around with 20-30 gallons in the hull to learn how it feels. That would also be good practice for pumping out your hull while on your kayak.

How do you power your bilge pump? If you have your FF, bait tank pump and bilge pump all running off the same battery, will you have enough juice to keep the bilge dry if you spring a leak at the end of a long fishing session? I will be reworking my electrical system when I install my bilge pump. My bait tank pump will run off a dedicated battery (6 or 12VDC), while the FF/GPS and bilge pump will be supplied by a 12VDC 10Ahr battery. I know from experience that the FF/GPS will run for at least a full day on the 10A-hr battery. When the bait tank pump and the FF are both on the same battery, the life of the FF is greatly reduced, but the pump will run for hours after the FF shuts down (at 10.2V). That should give me plenty of time to reach shore or summon help.

I ordered a Whale Super Sub 500 from West Marine this afternoon. It should be in on Friday. I'll try to thoroughly document the installation process and post the results. I'll make sure to include some of the great ideas already mentioned in this thread.