@NotThePainter said:
And he’s doing it with a cetus, my boat! But still, I like the upside version better.
Dimitri is quite skilled, but he is self-taught. He does some strange stuff in his videos every now and then.
@Peter-CA said:
When I teach it, I break the paddle float rescue into 3 parts, with rest stops (where everything is under control and you can stop and think and catch your breath between them).
I do like the idea of breaking it down into parts. Aside from the rest stops it also makes it easier to remember the steps.
After this, you can get your paddle float and place on paddle and inflate (all while your leg is still in the boat, holding you to the the boat). Once paddle is ready, you remove your foot and flip boat upright and place paddle bade on back deck. You then do the lunge and get your body far enough up on back deck, chest on blade to hold it down, and leg on float.
So the paddle is between you and the front of the boat here? It sounds like, just trying to be sure.
Where does the strength for the lunge come from, some pulling but also some kicking?
I don’t place the paddle under deck lines (or straps that some boats have), because not all boats have them (and not even all of the boats in the fleets that I teach with have them).
This is a good reason to learn more than one way! I’ve seen something called The Ladder
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCC-oX-OsWg
It looks like this requires the use of a paddle leash. I did try this once or twice in that session but I could barely make the lunge out of the water. So I’m probably going to have to pass even trying to learn this one.
Ladder above aka the Cowboy. It would be the first alternate to a roll I would try in the Romany because that boat is so forgiving. Less fuss than the paddle float thing anyway.
Only two things different. I cannot get the end of the boat under me from the back the way the guy does in the video, there is simply not enough of me. So I go sideways over the back towards the stern then spin on my belly. After that just climb up. Give that a try.
On the paddle, note that there is another boat present and the person demonstrating is not carrying a spare paddle. Neither are situations that would/should occur if paddling solo. He may be keeping the paddle near two ways. He first has it between his legs, then he stuffs it under the boat to hold it. Or he is not worrying about it much because of the second paddler. I tend to deploy my wrist leash that I keep wrapped around the paddle shaft, though that has its awkward moments too…
I’m impressed that he was able to do this in “textured” water; it’s not as easy as it looks in the video. However, I’m less impressed that he paddled away with the paddle upside-down. 
@NotThePainter said:
So the paddle is between you and the front of the boat here? It sounds like, just trying to be sure.
The northseakayak video at time stamp 1:05 shows the setup I am talking about (though he hasn’t floated his legs up toward water as much as I would, and it shows when e does his lunge that his body goes up higher. If he didn’t have as good balance and as much practice as he does, it woudn’t have gone as smoothly).
Where does the strength for the lunge come from, some pulling but also some kicking?
I think a mix. And don’t think of it so much as a lunge a your arms pulling the bot under you and your legs swimmer kicking you forward.
@Peter-CA said:
@NotThePainter said:
So the paddle is between you and the front of the boat here? It sounds like, just trying to be sure.
Hey, there’s one. I looked for a short while trying to find someone that put the paddle between themselves and the cockpit like I was taught. Glad to see I’m not crazy. I haven’t had time to review any of the linked videos, but I think I’ll have to try the heel hook again at some point. I’m still bitter about breaking an expensive paddle doing that the first time around. I’ll use a beater next time!
This is a great thread, very informative!
I have only done the cowboy scramble thus far, the exact way Celia described it, getting up horizontally on the deck behind the cockpit. What I’m wondering is: how does this relate to the paddle float self-rescues shown (which I’ve not yet learned) in terms of difficulty or usefulness in “real” conditions?
And does one learn both (or all) in order to have more options, or do they work better or less well under different circumstances?
The classic paddle float self-rescue is more “fool-proof”. If you have practised it on flat water, it will also to some extent work in waves.
The cowboy rescue is very handy. If you can do it, it will save some time. But some people can only do it on flat water and have trouble in waves. So I think that most semi-experienced paddlers (without a roll) will try the cowboy first and then fallback to the paddle-float rescue.
With that said, it is very individual. I saw a 56 year old girl test her cowboy rescue for the first time outside the pool - in waves equal to those in NotThePainter’s video. She managed without much trouble. And I have taught beginners, who could easily master the cowboy, but had problems with the paddle-float rescue.
Like Allan said, you have to find out what works best for you. Just make sure you have at least two ways if you paddle alone.
I was in a class with a young man who had only gotten his Avocet a week ago and had no time learning a paddle float or roll. The instructors told us all to dump in open water w/o checking the skill sets because it was a class that was supposed to all be folks at a certain level. This young man got in the water as instructed then had to figure out how to get back in. He managed a cowboy on the spot and was in sooner than the rest of us. Two and a half ft long rollers, so it was benign. But still pretty impressive.
@Doggy Paddler said:
And does one learn both (or all) in order to have more options, or do they work better or less well under different circumstances?
The more options you have, the better. Roger Schumann’s Sea Kayak Rescue explains many rescue options and is a good read. http://eskapekayak.com/our-books/sea-kayak-rescue/
OK, thanks. I learned the cowboy scramble in a class and have practiced it on my own, but I’m signed up for another class that’s only about rescue, so I imagine I’ll be learning some more then.
Notice how he uses the waves in the cowboy scramble, he waits until the angle is just right before making the lunge.
@NotThePainter said:
It looks like this requires the use of a paddle leash.
The cowboy rescue doesn’t require a paddle leash. Actually, before I saw your video, I don’t think I have ever seen it done with a paddle leash.
You would normally hold the paddle with both hands in front of you while “climbing” the kayak. And you would use the paddle for support while sitting up and pulling your legs in.
@“Allan Olesen” The cowboy does not require the use of a paddle leash officially. That said, there could be points where use of it would make things feel a bit more reliable especially if paddling solo.
One of my complaints about a lot of recommendations is that they are offered in the context of someone performing ideally well. This is fine when you are in a group. But a belts and suspenders approach is too easily dismissed when considering someone who is paddling solo. Yeah, it could cause a person to not get a star rating in an assessment so there they should be perfect. But if you are out alone and unexpected things happen, and it is the latter half of the paddle to boot so you are tired, you need to use every tool available to make sure you get home safely.
The Cowboy does seem to render one of those phone cord leashes to the deck rigging a bad idea though.
I have not needed, so far, the paddle to secure my situation while plopping into the cockpit in the Romany. In the other boat my first non-roll choice would be the heel hook paddle float thing because it is more reliable than the Cowboy due to the diffs between the boats.
@Celia, I have not in any way warned against the paddle leash (in this thread at least).
NotThePainter commented that it seems that the cowboy rescue requires a paddle leash. Probably because he saw the paddle being left at the side of the kayak.
I responded that it doesn’t need a paddle leash. Which is absolutely correct. I also explained what you will usually use your paddle for during the cowboy rescue - so he didn’t have to wonder why the paddle won’t float away while doing the rescue.
@“Allan Olesen”
OK. I was being maybe excessively conservative. If I have it right from reading his posts NotThePainter is a newer paddler and often paddling alone. It is easy for someone in that situation to take advice quite literally.
Next year I want to see “Critique My Roll”. Life is so much easier if you stay in the boat.
Everything get more complicated when a paddler leaves the largest PFD they have, and then realizes that they would have been better off had they stayed. and just rolled.
Easy for you guys to say. Give we beginners time!
Not sure where you live Doggy Paddler…find a Greenland gathering…with a small amount of mentoring…you will laugh at how you could of ever thought it was difficult to roll. Much more difficult to get back in a kayak. It’s as easy or easier than rolling over in a mummy sleeping bag.