you lost it
Published November 3, 2006 | 
started walkin’ all over my mind
- tom jones
Now you could carry replacement hatch cover. You can generally order replacements from the manufacturer or at the shop where you bought the kayak. You know, I don’t actually know anyone who does that. 
But it’s certainly an idea. Another would be the old rubber band or bungee and garbage bag solution. I’ve also heard you could just go crazy with duct tape, but I can’t image it sticking. Probably the easiest solution is just having an emergency cover like this cool one I got from Reed.
Actually the cover is the easy part. (once you have reason to think about it. . ) But getting the water out of the flooded hatch can be a bit more of a challenge. Especially while you try to stay upright at the same time. I wouldn’t want to imagine doing it alone. Great for you if you have an electric pump handy! Assuming it removes water faster than it pours back in. I was really liking the method where you put some sort of inflatable bag in there and just blow it up, thus pushing the water out. At least this way the water can’t fill back in where the bag takes up space. I suppose you could use a paddle float, but of course hard core BCU types would be hard pressed to carry a paddle float. (but that’s another story). Maybe you’d carry a spare float bag? NRS has some nice ones. Whaddya reckon?
File this one under, “You don’t have to go home, but you can’t stay here”. If I were online just browsing sea kayak stuff, my next stop today would be over at Simon Willis’ website to listen to his latest podcast. This round is with Jeff Allen of Sea Kayak Cornwall. Of course I’m biased. “GO JEFF!!”. Anyway, after listening to him describe his top favorite routes, you can run over to their website. (hint, hint) and book your trip! 3 weeks eh?
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8 Responses to you lost it
Just how eclectic must this pump be
Might want to try an electric one instead.
At a day-long on the water rescue scenarios for instructors, we tried the garbage bag-bungie thingie. Didn’t work. First wave took it out. We did stuff everything we had into the hatch to displace water and then used twine to fasten a cover made from an extra paddling top. That worked. Love the idea of the Reed emergency replacement.
I would simply bring a couple beachballs in my kayak. They fold up to nothing and they can be blown up from the inside to completely seal a hatch as well as work as well as displace water.
Just a thought: What about a can of compressed air? Invert the boat, set off the canister in the compartment, air rises displacing the water right back out the hatch and through every nook and cranny between gear, replace cover, right the boat. An extreme measure to be sure as the kayaker has to be in the water for this to work (and gear can fall out), but no waves are going to replace the pumped out water either. This would also work for the cockpit with a re-enter and roll finish. Another down side would be there’s still no float bags to keep it from happening again. Maybe something that’s half float bag and half SOSpenders?
Jim
Hi Derrick,
I’m having trouble getting in touch with you via email.
Could you contact me at adambolonsky at yahoo dot com.
My blog receives a lot of traffic via yours. I’d like to exchange links.
Thanks,
Adam
beach balls seem like a good plan. I’d heard about compressed air somewhere. It seems like it would be a bit tricky you’d have to try it to be sure. I think anything that put’s the paddler in the water would be a bad thing in general. But then, what if you’re alone? You’d probably end up in the water anyway.
Hey Adam,
I did send you out an email. Hopefully you’ll get it. Thank you!!
The can of compressed air I have states: “DO NOT leave in direct sunlight, enclosed vehicle, or expose to temperatures above 120 (degrees)F (49 degrees C), as overheating could cause can to burst.”
Sounds like a bad thing to have in the enclosed hatch sitting on a hot beach having lunch and . . . thar she blows!
Derrick,
You’re not alone, we lost a day hatch cover, torn off! by a 15ft breaking wave in the Shumagin Islands (the middle of f******g nowhere) 2004 we had an emergency spare but not as nice as the one you got from reeds (have to get me one of them) ours leaked, so we packed,stuffed,crammed the day hatch with freeze dried food for the rest of the trip.
I was going to say something asinine like “Just don’t loose your hatch covers”, but then I thought about this new Explorer I got and how it has this NDK branded day hatch cover that just doesn’t seem to stay on as well as the Valley day hatch cover on my old Explorer. I’d have already lost it except that I had the foresight to leash it. That was when it worked off during a roll demo, presumably from my sandles and water botles banging against it from the inside. I’m sure waves would figure a way to untie the leash knots!
So best bet is to have some real spares, especially if you’re out in nowhere. And maybe some add-on buckle straps over the top. Ugly, but belt-and-suspenders is sometimes warranted.
Thomas