Grail of Bail (bailing scoop)

[MrPoling]

These are my bailing scoops, medium sized bleach bottles. The handles have a squirt of foam in them so they don't sink

They work good but are rather ragged looking. Which is mostly ok with me, but appearances matter.

I haven't seen many options, at least beyond the flexible plastic ones is see when I Google bailing scoop.

Does anyone have a more respectable bailing scoop they really like?

 

[goonstroke]

I use the windshield washer fluid jugs, a similar shape but clear plastic. I find the diameter roughly matches the chines of the canoes I bail most often. (For best results, heel slightly before bailing.) Even if our outfitting accessories come out of the garbage we can still be connoisseurs.

I like that squirt of foam idea, I'll have to do that.

 

[SouthernKevlar]

Looks perfectly respectable to me. I use a 1/2 gallon plastic milk carton with the bottom cut out; the flexible plastic forms to the shape of the canoe bottom.
I too like the foam idea.
Reuse, recycle, repurpose.

 

[Erica]

That’s what I use too.

 

[Boatman53]

Good idea to fill the handle with foam. It’s mostly tied but you never know. I mostly use a small towel.
Jim

 

[Pseudonym]

Same here + a Shamwow. I learned the Shamwow trick thanks to someone on this forum and have come to love it. The expanding foam idea is very clever too

 

[JohnSand]

I use a small hand pump, a cut bleach bottle, and a car wash sponge. Years ago in WoodenBoat Magazine, there was an article and pictures of a wooden bilge scoop.

 

[scoutergriz]

my favourite bailers are made from 2L (1/2gal) vinegar jugs, their rectangular shape allows them to get into tighter spots near the stems or be used laying flat, take up far less room, hold my sponges (I like the large peanut- shaped grouting sponges) more securely, and still have enough curve to the sides to allow you to scoop around ribs or other obstructions, one thing I did was to put a bead of silicone on the threads to prevent leaking or losing the cap.

 

[Benson Gray]

I also prefer rectangular jugs and stiff plastic for bailing sailing canoes with a flat floor as shown below. It is easy to tie them to the end of the main sheet so they don't get lost.

Benson

 

[Tsuga8]

I usually use bilge sponges and/or shamwow knock-off, plus a kayakers bilge pump if I expect to need it.

I certainly like all the re-used/repurposed jugs!

But if you want something to blend with your wood canoe, check out these bailers from the New Zealand Maritime Museum in Auckland. The handles seem very sensibly placed to me.

I highly recommend the museum for CT members who make it to NZ - they have a fabulous collection of Pacific Islander canoes etc. Regrettably I didn’t record the country of origin on the bailers.

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

In my 20 years of whitewater canoeing I used a bleach bottle bailer, as in the OP, but I cut the opening at about a 40° angle, so the bottom of the opening was longer than the top—i.e., it was sort of open at the top. That way, I could "scoop-flip" water quickly off the bottom and over the gunwale before hitting the next rapid that was coming up fast. Didn't need it to float, as it was always clipped onto the thwart or float bags in front of me on a string that was long enough to accommodate my bailing motions. If you dump in long whitewater, anything not tied in is likely gone forever whether it can float or not.

I've never taken a bailer in a lifetime of paddling flat water. I take a peanut sponge wrapped in microfiber and a small microfiber towel, both of which attach to the thwart in front of me. You can see the blue towel on the extreme left and sponge on extreme right in this picture. I seem to have a third green towel on top of my day bag on the canoe cart. That one's usually for me, not for cleaning the boat.



Why don't I take a bailer on flat water? Not really sure except I never felt the need for one. I'm not going to paddle in wind waves so big they would crash over my gunwales. No, mam, I'm sitting on shore in such conditions sipping decaf green tea. Nor do I usually paddle in contuous rain downpours. I'm also very used to just picking up a canoe and dumping it sideways on shore or in the shallows. That's how we mainly bailed whitewater canoes that were gunwale full.

 

[goonstroke]

A bailer can be handy on flatwater if one needs to take a leak and the shoreline is uninviting. In the Missouri River 340 race everyone pees in the boat, even the gals paddling surfskis.

 

[Erica]

When I was on a lake in Verendrye I got caught in a sudden intense downpour. The water quickly rose to 3-4 inches in the bottom of the boat before I made it to shore. I didn’t have a bailer. It would have been handy.

 

[yknpdlr]

A bailer can be handy on flatwater if one needs to take a leak and the shoreline is uninviting. In the Missouri River 340 race everyone pees in the boat, even the gals paddling surfskis.

Same for the Yukon River races. Nearly every time I raced I had a mixed voyageur or C4 canoe team (which happens to put us in a select separate race class for awards). Guys tend to use a Gatorade bottle ("wide mouth" of course), while the ladies use a variety of devices (purchased or home made) for the purpose, having limited success with most judging from what I hear from behind me from the bow seat ("please don't turn around for a few minutes"). We don't stop paddling for anything (including hot meals) other than maybe once a day for more serious issues (which as navigator and time keeper we keep to no more than seven minutes stopped).

On the YRQ, the first mandatory rest stop occurs at 190 miles (Carmacks, roughly 20 hours) from the race start at Whitehorse when all race boats are pretty rank by then with food debris and other contaminants mixed with river splash water and other liquids. Here is where our pit crews really shine, wearing rubber gloves and holding spray bottles of bleach, getting our boats sanitized clean and ready to race again after our short mandatory rest. We are on our own for keeping the boat interior suitably clean for the next almost 300 miles.

Our bailers tend to be the ubiquitous bleach bottle clipped on a line to a thwart. One time during an Adirondack 90 mile race we forgot to bring our bottle and a pit crew member had to rush to the Long Lake bridge to drop it to us with perfect bombing aim as we in our voyageur passed underneath.

 

[JohnSand]

I don't know if it applies to state waters, but federal regulations require all boats to carry a means of bailing. One could use a boot, pan, cup or even a hat.

 

[yknpdlr]

I don't know if it applies to state waters, but federal regulations require all boats to carry a means of bailing. One could use a boot, pan, cup or even a hat.

Never heard that in regards to small sport craft (canoes, kayaks) in NY interior waters. I once had a volunteer Coast Guard guy try to tell me that in a canoe longer than 16' we were required to have a light and a whistle or air horn (not a bad idea for the whistle in any case). I was waiting for him to also say a fire extinguisher and a throwable floatation aid.

 

[Odyssey]

AFAIK in Canada canoeists and kayakers must pack along a bailer or manual bilge pump. Bailers must be metal or plastic, hold at least 750 mL, and have an opening of 9 cm in diameter. To its credit, Transport Canada encourages you to fashion your own by cutting the bottom off a 4-L plastic jug (but keep the cap screwed on).

 

[Chip]

Many places I paddle are swampy and it is difficult to find dry ground on which to step out. It may have started out as a bailer, but the plastic jug with the bottom sliced off, at an angle, is now known as an OBU, on-board urinal.

I never thought about the OBU sinking. Foam in the handle idea is a good one.

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

My outrigger canoe has venturi drains in the footwells. The bilgewater gets sucked out if you go fast enough. But the water comes right back in if you slow down or whenever you stop. So, it's sort of a pain for a non-racing recreational paddler. I put a rubber stoppers in mine to block them. I can get rain or splash out of the footwells by just stomping my feet to get most of it to splash out.

I believe some marathon racing canoes have venturi drains called self bailers that can be opened and closed manually or automatically.

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[yknpdlr]

I believe some marathon racing canoes have venturi drains called self bailers that can be opened and closed manually or automatically.

yes, very true. some are foot operated, but you have to moving along through the water at a good clip for them to work. Working properly, they are supposed to include a one way valve so you get no reverse flow at low/zero speed.