Quote:
Originally Posted by steveooo
Hobie Kayaks are pretty watertight. The PA might take on a few cups water in a bad surf launch if you leave the plastic tub in, but those few cups probably won't be enough to even activate an auto bilge.
Probably the most likely reason you will end up with water in your Hobie kayak, will be by drilling unnecessary holes in it (bilge pump fittings, switch panels).
I'd spring for a decent hand pump and keep things simple.
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I guess I figure that like a manual bilge pump an electric wouldn't necessarily be necessary but precautionary. A hand pump is $30-ish while an electric would be $50 - $80. I'm not real concerned about the few cups that I may take at launch or landing...I more concerned about the gallons I've taken in a time or two in real gnarly wind, swell and current..there has been times where I've been in what seemed like a washing machine with wind out there. Have you ever tried to paddle (or peddle) while frantically working a hand pump? Heck, I've heard of guys cracking their decks while on the water. Wouldn't it be nice in those rare situations to not have to worry about using your hands for anything other than paddling your ass back to safety? It would have been awesome to have seen a stream of water shooting from the side of my yak for the times I've been caught out there. Hasn't it been proven in threads here that you can install an electric bilge system without compromising the integrity of a yak? Am I missing something here?