Kayaking - it's a game of inches!!

For those of you who may have been following my blog for some time, you will remember an entry I made about a pump holder constructed from a suction cup and a piece of PVC pipe.  This holder worked famously when I positioned my pump up underneath my foredeck. When I made my under deck hydration system, it took up the space of the pump. I initially thought the two could fit under my deck but my size 13 pontoons would not allow this!!

I ended up moving the pump to the floor of my boat just fwd of my seat. I'd leave the pump on deck until launched and then I place the pump in its holder. Once in place I did not even know it was there UNTIL I did a wet exit once and hooked it with my feet on the way out!! I am not sure if this would happen every time or if this was just a fluke but I decided that I needed to work on the pump's position.

The initial setup.

I noticed that the front of my seat is raised a fair bit (which I might add, contributes greatly to leg comfort) and hollow, to boot. I figured I could drill a hole through the front so that my pump could slide under the seat a bit. Enter the drill and hole saw!!

Drilling through the seat.

While not as dicey as drilling through the hull, you need to be careful when drilling out the seat. If your angle is wrong you can hit the hull beneath. Unknowingly I grazed my hull but certainly not enough to cause concern.

Finished hole (see the slight abrasion on the hull inside the lip?)

I took a piece of sandpaper and cleaned up the burrs around the hole and moved the PVC holder into position.

After

Before

The pump is about 7" under the seat now and well out of the way of my feet/legs. The seat also serves to hold the pump a little more snug. Release and return are quite easy to perform.