bulkheads are good, rmd
: I haven't tried this method, but in self-rescue practice in calm conditions,
: the kayak floated high enough without me in it that very little water got
: in anyway. If you push the kayak up as you flip it from alongside the
: kayak, not much stays in.

: So much for doing calm-water re-entries. Now try it in some waves -- the kind
: that cause you end up having to do that wet exit! Even waves 2-3 feet high
: can wash into the cockpit as you try to get in, get situated, get your
: spray skirt on, and start bilge-pumping. The waves will cause your empty
: kayak to broach, so you'll end up parallel to the waves as you're trying
: to get in, and water will wash over the side and in the cockpit. I'll
: admit that I have not practiced self-rescues in conditions like I was
: paddling in today in Lake Michigan -- 20-25kt winds with 4-5ft waves which
: had me pretty skiddish as some of them broke onto the top of my kayak from
: the side! But these were the kind of conditions that were present when I,
: not foolishly, just naiively, ventured out into Lake Superior's Apostle
: Islands in a rental kayak (I had never kayaked before) for a 5-day camping
: trip. Two people -- our safety equipment consisted of one bilge pump -- a
: total of one, not each. I had to wet-exit twice, and both times, although
: I was rafted up with my partner and had emptied the water out, had to do
: quite a bit of bilge-pumping of the water that had entered the kayak while
: I did.

: O.K., so enough of my horror story. It all depends on the kind of conditions
: you will limit yourself to paddling in. If you don't paddle in big water
: or go out on rough days, then this may not be much of an issue. I know a
: guy who built 2 very nice, traditional skin-on-frame baidarkas, and he
: only has float bags in the ends and no sea sock. He and his wife only go
: out on mild days.

: One more thought: If you do take in a lot of water as you re-enter the kayak,
: all that weight will be foreward of center, which will make the boat very
: unmaneuverable. It might even make it hard, if not impossible, to pump it
: all out if the kayak is parked nose-down from the weight.

: Dean