Solo canoes are near impossible to reenter after capsizing. Tandem can be grief also. Does anyone make something akin to a paddle float as in a kayak?
Has anyone tried to make a device such as an oarlock with a clamp to hold a paddle with some form of flotation as an outrigger to assist reentry?
Nothing fancy
– Last Updated: Jan-07-04 6:20 AM EST –
I've been using a couple of bungee cords to attach (if and when neccessary)the spare paddle to a thwart. The spare has a closed cell sleeve on the blade to provide floatation. One bungee ties in the spare paddle anyway, the other comes from my bail bucket. Getting back in, for me anyway, isn't a thing of beauty; the gunnel still slips below the surface but it's do-able.
gotta be homemade
I don’t know of any commercial setups that are worth looking at, but I’ve considered doing something like what eskimojo described. I was thinking about using some double-sided velcro instead of bungees, and either using a chunk of closed cell foam or the paddle float from my kayak on the end of a longer single blade paddle. Pretty much the same thing as his system, though. It’s good to hear that someone has tried something like that and it works.
Be forewarned…
It’s quite the balancing act even after you’re in a swamped boat with the float attached. C2G’s right about paddle length…I use a 52" bent shaft normally, but I have a 60" deepwater guide pattern that I use for the outrigger. I don’t know if I could get it rigged if hypothermia was imminient (again his velcro suggestion may be way faster), but I’d rather die trying than just die.
try this…
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out rigging to re enter
this is very similar to my system. I use straps and a half of canoe pole with a dry bag attached as an outrigger. My dry bags are on lines (flat water only, tied in on WW), so it is a case of strapping the pole on, pulling a bag out of the boat and slipping the end of the pole under the straps, then going for it.
I tried this 12 times, 6 with a Prism, 6 with a mad river guide. 100% sucess.
But (big but), I’ve only tried this in calm conditions, not in 3’ waves.