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1. Location, Location, Location
The first step of the project is to use a piece of graph paper to do a scale drawing of the installation. Draw your bulkhead, your foot pegs or rudder pedals, a compass well and anything else that might affect your choice of pump location and orientation. Add the pump, the intake and discharge lines, the strum box (which filters debris and smoothes the flow of water into the intake line) and through-hull. Use this drawing in conjunction with actually maneuvering the pump parts inside the boat to determine which arrangement works best for your kayak. (See previous diagram.)
Ideally, your bulkhead should be about three inches forward of your foot pegs or rudder pedals. If your bulkhead is too far away to comfortably operate a bulkhead-mounted pump, you can use either a stand-off or bracket-mounting method. The bracket-mounting method can also be used if your bulkhead is not rigid or secure enough to support the force of operating the foot pump. Additional information on these mounting methods is given near the end of this article. Use your leg length to determine how far off the bulkhead, if at all, to mount the pump.
Determine your bulkhead height,
width and distance from the foot pegs. Measure the bulkhead’s
height at the centerline and its width at the gunwales. For the
pegs, measure the distance from the forward face of the pegs
to the bulkhead.
If you have a compass recess located in the cockpit area, it may interfere with your ability to reach and operate the foot pump. This was the case for my boat, so I mounted the pump button to the left of center. I can also use the pump as a foot brace when necessary.
If your feet are wider than the foot pegs, you should leave sufficient distance between the foot pegs and pump button to prevent your foot from accidentally hitting both at the same time. The center of the pump button should be at roughly the same height as your foot pegs or rudder pedals. Take care to avoid installing the pump between a foot peg or rudder pedal and the bulkhead. Doing so could pose a safety hazard by limiting rudder movement, restricting peg placement or snagging a foot during a wet exit. Note: Be very careful that the pump installation does not in any way interfere with the range of motion of your rudder pedals!
Try to position the discharge through-hull
level with the gunwale, forward of the foot peg or rudder pedal,
and above, below or forward of the track as space permits. Be
sure to keep enough distance between the end of the through-hull
and the pump’s discharge connection to work the hose onto
the through-hull. Under no circumstances should you locate the
through-hull below the water line.
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