h a l f b a k e r yThis ain't rocket surgery.
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Although I have kayaked many hundreds of miles at sea, I have never had to make a self-rescue. I also never wanted to.
A sea sock does much to limit the amount of flooding in a kayak, especially expedition models. The problem is that you still must bail while in potentially massive swells.
A small
hole is drilled into the deck of the kayak and a pull ring is attached to the outside of the kayak with a bottle of compressed CO2 on the inside. When pulled, the CO2 expands within the kayak and the sea sock is essentially turned inside-out by the pressure differential.
Halfbakery way: The explosive release of CO2 makes a great geyser as the water is forcibly removed.
Alternate method: The CO2 is released in a controlled manner and no bulkheads are sacrificed.
A valve at the base of the sea sock would be released after the kayak had emptied to allow the sea sock to resume shape.
What the @#%! is a sea sock?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_sock
Oh...okay. [Klaatu, Mar 22 2008]
Expedition Sea Kayak
http://canoekayak.c..._kayaks/index3.html
At 19' 2" in length, a lot to bail out. [Klaatu, Mar 22 2008]
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Annotation:
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I'm always a little hinky over holes in hulls of boats- not understanding the physics and all.
But if you say you can blast the water out of there, I believe you. |
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The sea sock is a sort of...condom, that a kayaker sits in. The only water that intrudes into the boat is within that space and the rest of the boat remains dry. |
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Think turning a condom inside out to drain the contents. |
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(sorry. Drugs make brain work funny) |
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Thanks for the links, as even though I own a kayak, I had never heard of these. Where is the normal air hole for these? Wouldn't it make sense just to get in, seal the bleeder hole and then slightly pressurize the boat with a pump to eliminate excess volume? The pressure would make the sock conform to your body and not allow sea water to excessively pool. Probably not all that comfortable though. The CO2 idea is problematic because you'd run out of cartridges wouldn't you? |
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I imagine that much like aircraft lifevests there would be a back-up inflation tube. |
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I imagine that Klaatu was sitting there for about twenty minutes turning his or maybe her socks inside out and muttering 'this means something' before rushing to the 'bakery. |
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It's kinda like an airbag, except there's compressed CO2 instead of air and nobody's crashing into you. |
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so, if you're a kayaking pirate you only have HALF of the potential bailing power of the average bi-ped? |
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Nice idea - but wouldn't this kinda require that you are outside of the sock at the time? is that a good idea, in heavy swells? Also, given that this is limited-use and you'd only want to bail when the need was dire, it'd take a lot of pressure to force out all that water, no? (I'm thinking upwards of 10 kg). |
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Alternatively you could do this with a considerable amount of the explosive used for airbags (in a suitably built kayak, obviously) - with the added bonus of being instantly ejected from your kayak as the sock inverts! woohoo! |
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I think you'd want to first do a re-entry, however you'd manage it. (The water in the sock might serve to lubricate things.) That would expel much of the water from the sock, just because your legs would be filling the space. |
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Then, once firmly seated, blast the bottle. That'd squish the remaining water out of the sock, molding it to your legs. Then snap the skirt back on over the cockpit rim. |
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I've never used a sea sock, but I assume the foot fastens inside the boat somewhere. Which wouldn't affect the original idea. |
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(I used to build sea kayaks for Pacific Water Sports in Seattle. I never went out on the ocean, just on Puget Sound.) |
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//wouldn't this kinda require that you are outside of the sock at the time?// |
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A wet exit usually means you *are* outside of the boat. The spray skirt would normally preclude any water in the sea sock. The routine is to bail the sea sock and then re-enter the boat. This idea just speeds up the process. |
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As far as multi-use, if you have to use this more than once in a trip, either you are: |
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A) In way over your head for the conditions
B) Not skilled enough to be kayaking in the ocean
C) Both A & B |
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The only time I was over my head was kayaking the coast of Maine. Swells were higher than a 2-story house and I was kayaking alone. There were no beaches and no ports in many areas. I had to kayak for over 8 hours of non-stop paddling before I could haul out. Had a self-rescue been called for, it would have been impossible to save myself. One of those "never again" moments. |
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Would it help if we tried thinking outside the socks? |
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That's quite the story [klattu] (+) |
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<resists temptation to post "Elf-sailing
bee sock" idea> |
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"self-rescue"? if you can do it your self you don't need rescue :) |
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momentarily; self bailing sea clock. |
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