Towing a sinking kayak takes a LOT of energy! About ten years ago I had to tow a buddy of mine, it was in O'side harbor. He was fishing in a rental Scupper Pro, with the front hatch unbuckled
(I found this out later). Well, sure enough, he fell out of the thing. As he was trying to get back on, he tilted the yak enough to allow water inside... it filled quickly. I paddled over to him and made him grab the front toggle on his yak, and the toggle on the back of my yak. By the time he grabbed my yak, his was almost completely under water
. It seemed to take forever to get to the jetty, which was only about 75 feet away. Good thing it was low tide, as there was enough exposed sand to beach the yaks. If we were at a spot like La Jolla, or even just a bit further from shore, there is no way we would have made it to the beach. A hand-held bilge pump would not have made a difference in this situation.