How to get in a canoe- version 1
Self Rescue
The best and safest 'self rescue' is prevention. Paddle your boat within a comfortable swimming distance from shore. If the temperature are cooler, paddle even closer and wear a wet suit or dry suit. ​Any re-entry type of rescue, whether solo or assisted, can be taxing on the capsized paddler; sometimes to the point of near exhaustion. If you attempt to re-enter boat and fail, you may not have the necessary energy at that point to swim to shore. If you have not thoroughly practiced self rescue before you need to use it, it is always better to just swim to shore. Ultimately your boat is replaceable. If the environment or your energy levels make it difficult to swim with the boat, let it go.
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2Kick and Push
With a firm grip on the kayak, let your legs float to the surface behind you. Then give a powerful kick with your legs and push with your arms to haul your chest up onto the kayak.
3Spin and Drop
Draw your body fully on top of the kayak, keeping your weight low. Once you’re up on the boat, twist your body around and settle into the seat.
4Pull Your Legs In
The final step is to pull your legs back onto the boat. The whole process may not look pretty, but it works!
Tip: If you face this situation in the real world it likely won’t be in calm conditions. Practice your technique on calm water, then move to rougher water and try again. Always wear your PFD and practice with a buddy.
Person padding a green and black sit-on-top fishing kayak with rodsBest Sit-On-Top Fishing Kayaks For 2024
Re-entering a Sit-Inside Kayak
1Right the Boat
The quicker you can flip the boat upright, the less water will get scooped inside. Although you can flip the kayak upright yourself from the water, it is easier if your buddy helps by lifting an end as you roll the kayak.
2Climb Back In
Your paddling partner can stabilize the kayak by positioning his kayak parallel to yours, gripping it with both hands, and leaning his whole body over onto it. As long as he has a good grip on the kayak, there’s virtually no chance of his flipping himself. You can then use virtually the same re-entry technique outlined here for a sit-on-top kayak.
3Pump Out the Water
Once you’re back inside, you’ll have a fair amount of water in the boat to deal with. This is where a bilge pump comes in handy. Be sure to keep your pump easily accessible, but also secure enough that it doesn’t float away when you capsize. If you’re close to shore, head to dry land and empty your boat there.
It is the same stroke only if the arms don't come out of the water, there is slow progress and movement only when progress is beginning to cease, to preserve energy. Most importantly the arms and legs are kept together as long as possible to minimize heat loss from the body.
In this context the stroke is a life-preserving stoke to be able to swim long distances, conserving energy, minimizing heat loss (avoiding Hypothermia if possible), all whilst awaiting rescue.
Survival Backstroke
The Hornbeck Technique
. Using a stirrup recovery technique can literally give you one leg up on being able to re-enter your boat.
Basically a stirrup, by definition, is a “…form of a loop with a flat base to support the rider's foot…”. The key words being “support” and “foot”. From a re-entry perspective, a foothold is made from one end of a looped section of tubular nylon webbing straps that is used as a “step up” segment of a kayak re-entry rescue.
The loop is fashioned from aproximately
length of 1” tubular or flat webbing formed by tying ends off in a “water” knot to form a long, complete circle (loop) of strap. The loop is then placed over a paddle straddling the kayak deck perpendicular to the deck, drawn under the boat and wrapped around the shaft at a point where it extends out beyond the beam of the kayak. Excess strapping is hung below the shaft to create a loop in which the capsizer’s foot is inserted and used like the rung on a ladder for support and upward push to rise up out of the water and onto the cockpit area.
As part of one’s safety gear, the stirrup - already appropriately looped at a proper length-is stowed within the cockpit area for quick access. Practice will help you determine the appropriate rigging set-up for your body/leg length and kayak dimensions.
The strap can be wrapped around your paddle shaft for self-rescue or to assist you in team rescue.
Be advised: this can put excessive stress on your paddle, especially two-piece shafts - and can lead to serious damage.
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Watson, Tom, Paddling.com, Stirrup Strap Re-entry, https://paddling.com/learn/stirrup-strap-re-entry, 9/18/2024
