MohaveFlyer, you mentioned your doubt about being able to do a reentry in a dry suit.
I don’t own a dry suit and no one I know in Wyoming does either, but I have an idea that may be helpful. A theory that is possible worth testing:
Use a paddle float and do a reentry and roll.
I learned that trick last year and now I have taught it to 8 other people. If you use a solid paddle float it’s faster then using an inflatable but the foam floats give about 1/2 the buoyancy of the inflatables.
In my process of learning to roll I took Paulo’s advice and started out learning bracing, chest sculling and balance brace/back sculling first. He advises using a float to start out and that’s what I did. In doing that kind of drill I learned to tip the kayak from a hard edging lean to a full capsize and than back, using the float on the end of an extended paddle. It only took me about 30 minutes to get comfortable doing that.
So I reasoned that if it was easy to do, I should try doing it if I capsized when I was not doing a practice session. To try it I’d flip over and exit. I’d put the float on my paddle and inflate it and then I’d run the other blade through the deck rigging in front of the cockpit. Now with both hands free I’d take a deep breath and run both legs back into the upside-down kayak letting my head go under and as soon as my butt was in the seat I’d grab the paddle, extend it and do the rolling technique Paulo taught. WORKS LIKE A CHARM!
I showed it to a friend (Steve M.) and he thought it was great but took it a step farther and bought a solid float so the time needed to inflate was eliminated. Using his foam float we can capsize, do an exit. Rig the float onto the paddle, reenter and roll back up all in 30 seconds or less and not even hurry much. Just doing the "next thing’ and having the drill down pat so there is no waisted motion made it fast (“Slow is smooth and smooth becomes fast”)
So if you took an hour or so to teach yourself that drill the type of clothing you have on, (bathing suit, street cloths, wet suit or dry suit) would make no difference at all. And with practice the reentry and roll can be perfected to a point you don’t need any float.
Steve M. told me something I think showed some wisdom however. He says he’ll use the float in real waves or chop even if he thinks he doesn’t need it just because in the “real world” you only capsize in waves and chop. It’s the rough water that caused the capsize in the 1st place. So using the solid float it takes him about 10 seconds to get the float on the paddle and that 10 seconds extra is as close to a 100% guarantee he’ll come up the 1st try.
I use a collapsible bailing bucket to empty the cockpit down about 80% before I ever get out a bilge pump because it’s so much faster. One something like these https://www.amazon.com/Buckets-Complete-Gardening-Environmentally-Plastic/dp/B08QVX18TT/ref=sr_1_10?keywords=Silicone+Collapsible+Bucket&qid=1697375196&sr=8-10
All my kayaks have one tied inside the cockpit behind the seats on a 3 foot line and each dump takes out about 2/3 or a gallon so getting the cockpit emptied to a point the kayak is stable again is so much faster with the bucket than it is with a pump, so I don’t bother with the pump until the water is only about 3" deep inside. One trick I use is to take the paddle and place it over your shoulders with the naked blade behind your neck and the float in the water. Doing that you can brace down on the float in big chop with only 1 hand. Use the other to bail with until the water is only 3" deep in the cockpit. Replace the skit at that point in time and get out the pump. Peel back the skirt just enough to use the pump and set the naked blade of the paddle in the deck rigging, again to form an outrigger with the floated end as you edge toward it a bit. That way you can use both hands on the pump. When the pump starts to suck air put it away on the deck rigging, remove the paddle, remove the float and place it under the bungies, reseal the skirt and you are all done.
I hope this post is helpful to you in some way, and to anyone else that reads it too. I have found using a paddle float and doing a reentry and roll is WAY easier then doing any other type of reentry I ever learned. Also once you are in have the float on the paddle gives you WAY more support than a naked paddle so dealing with waves and chop is a lot more stable using one than anything I ever tried without one.
If I flip I try to roll up, but if I miss the roll 2-3 times I simply go to this technique because it’s fast and sure fire.
