> Just a few additional thoughts on the pump installation. Lots of good data
> so far. Foot pumps are great ways to empty a kayak quickly and efficiently
> --- good to see you installing one.

> Mounting a footpump on a good, solid bulkhead is still your best bet if
> the boat design allows this. Don't think I'd try having the shaft going
> through the bulkhead, though. For the reasons you cited.

> You do want to minimize the amount of hose you run and the bends in the
> hose that you use, but not using a scavenger hose of any sort will leave a
> lot of water in the boat --- to the point that you may still be unstable.
> A half inch clearance at the bulkhead means much more than a half inch of
> water at the pump, and at least an inch more where most of the water is
> --- under you at the lowest point in the boat. Brit boat designs, which
> pretty much started this trend, use a hose which comes back and terminates
> in a strum box --- looks sorta like a vacuum cleaner attachment for
> getting into upholstery, except it's open at the side instead of the end,
> and the side is placed against the bilge of the boat at the keel --- and
> the strum box is usually located under the seat.

> For overboard venting, both the footpumps I've seen --- Guzzlers and
> Hendersons --- have a three part valve which pretty much keeps water out.
> You don't really need another valve. More weight, more complexity. If a
> little water gets badk in through the pump, it won't be any more than
> comes in around the cockpit coaming. Pump it out! As to location for the
> vent, traditional wisdom --- the Brits again --- says either at the side
> above the water line or out through the deck is best. I'd never locate an
> overboard fitting below the waterline, and certainly not on the bottom.
> Either the corrogated or reinforced hose will work, but the corrugated is
> not as prone to collapse when used as a pickup hose as the reinforced is.
> And corrugated hose does bend nicely. If you need a 90 degree bend,
> however, you're better off with a fitting. There's a lot of friction and
> back pressure generated when you bend any of this hose in a tight radius.

> Personal experience is with Hendersons, but the Guzzlers should work fine.
> I have a Henderson in my VCP Pintail ("British Heavy") which has
> served me well for about seven years of year 'round paddling; I've also
> recently installed another Henderson as I was building a CLC North Bay
> with good result. The small volume and very small bulkhead in the North
> Bay (20" beam) makes the somewhat smaller Henderson a viable option
> to the Guzzler.

> Good luck with the project, Jack. Keep us posted on your progress, please.

> Jack Martin

I have seen guzzlers for sale,but where can you get a Henderson in the USA?