It is a very difficult question to have a general answer for. A lot of things affect it, including how much flotation the boat has and the overall athleticism of the paddlers involved.
You have to take it out, and dump it and try to get back in to figure out where the issues are. Some combinations can't be managed, some can. I and most people can easily get back into a canoe with full float bags front and back for example. But my ultralight canoe without those float bags is another story entirely.
You have to be in decent to good condition to reboard a flipped canoe. If you cant do a pullup, I would put the chances of a successful reboard pretty low. The biggest guy I've ever seen reboard after a flip is about 6'0" 220 lbs and is decently muscular with a good sized belly. He got back in, but it took him a couple tries and it was a marginal recovery. If conditions were rough, I bet it wouldnt have happened.
As others have said, try it in safe conditions near shore. Even of you cant get back in, you will learn valuable lessons.
Float bags are your friend. Also, bring an extra flotation device with you when your try it near a beach. I always loop a PFD under my crotch when reboarding because it gives you an extra 15lbs buoyancy in addition the the 15 already provided by your PFD. instead of hooking it around your leg/crotch, you can also hook it on your foot so you retain the additional lift longer into the recovery. You could potentially use the largest flotation device that you find practical. Maybe you could make something like 2 milk jugs with rope connecting them you could use for a foot hook. That probably wouldnt work too well, but the idea is all Im after.
However as others have said, if you're in 'less than moderate' physical conditioning, you will have a pretty hard or impossible time reboarding regardless of assisting devices.
I taught water safety to teenaged kids for the better part of 20 years.
Over the years, the canoe they used in the class were 17 foot, Osagians(aluminum), and 17 foot, Old Town Discovery 174s. NONE were ever outfitted with airbags.
One task each pair of partners were required to complete successfully was to get their canoe to the middle of a 200 foot wide, deep water lake. The next part of the task required that they intentionally capsize the canoe in the middle of the lake, reboard the canoe, and "hand paddle" the canoe to shore. They were not allowed to use, or leave the paddles they used to get to the middle of the lake. This was done "year round"; as we canoed year round, and were trying to duplicate the weather conditions they could expect if they capsized on the rivers where we paddled.
The kids canoeing experience varied, from having paddled a short distance 1 or 2 times(typically country boys, blundering downsteam) to never having set foot in a canoe in their life(typically city boys). I guesstimate that I taught in excess of 700 kids during the time I taught that class.
Not all were successful on their first attempt, but every single one of the teams of kids was successful; typically on their 2nd or 3 attempt.
Again, this was done in Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter conditions.
Participants could best be described as rank beginners.
No airbags were ever used.
Not one kid was ever evacuated for medical care.
The absolute necessity of having airbags in a canoe; to be able to successfully reenter a swamped canoe is pure, unadulterated BS!
Is it easy to do? No.
Can it be done? Yes.
I have seen it done hundreds of time, by young rookies.
and its easier to reenter a swamped recreational canoe than one fitted with air bags-
didn't say it was better or preferable- just relating my experience of how it was easier to reenter. If the boat is totally swamped out there's a good chance it will roll on you as you try to paddle it into shore. not sure how my poly canoe would work for rentry. Never have tried it out- so I think boat design and materials could change the outcome. I think ww boats would be harder to reenter.
My thoughts are get wet and find out for yourself if you want to know. Tandem we put our backs to boat and entered simulataneously with one of us on each side of the center thwart. Solo trickier- front wise,meaning your stomach is facing the boat, letting the feet float out to the surface, kicking and use hand over hand on a thwart.
here’s a pic of paddling a swamped boat using the “dumbbell” stroke after reentry, sitting on the floor, feet in the birthing position- notice the rowboat nearby with pole to offer assistance if things went south
no need to do a pullup at all Keep up with the techniques. Heel Hook is taught now for those with insufficient upper body strength . You essentially hook your heel under a thwart and roll in the boat.
Righting a canoe is very difficult Righting a tipped and swamped canoe is nearly impossible despite what you see on videos. You have to experience to fully understand. I encourage you to go to a shallow part of a lake or a swimming beach and try it with your canoe. Even in shallow water with your feet firmly on the bottom is difficult.
MOST canoes do not have sufficient built in floatation. If you have an anchor in your canoe and it flips, there is a good chance your anchor will drag the canoe with it to the bottom.
It is possible to right a tipped canoe and shake out some of the water, but that is about it. If the canoe is half filled with water and you get in it, the canoe will sink and take in more water.
If you want to prepare for such and emergency, have a bailing device leashed to the canoe; a cut-out bleach bottle, or a bilge pump. This will allow you to empty out most of the water and then get back into the canoe… which is difficult, but do-able with practice.
To roanguy -
The OPer might go out and decide to try air bags after some practice. I mean, they can be added after the fact. You make it sound like if they don't have air bags now it will forever be imposible.
And, as is mentioned above by thebob, there are canoes where re-entry is more possible than in others even without air bags. I found wooden canoes can often be manageable for example, while my ultralight and big old aluminum canoes tend to be either so light or so heavy that some part of the process fails. Opposite reasons, but the swamped result is the same.
But to thebob - Air bags were not a necessity for re-entry when I was in scouts. At 60 plus they sure as heck are in many canoes, as they were at 50 plus. Possible has to include the reality of the paddler's age.
I looked below and saw the pics of people paddling a swamped canoe. That is pretty much what I look like after I have sunk my ultralight with no air bags in it. It can be fun, but since the whole point of an on-water re-entry is to get out of the water to prevent hypothermia... I would not call that a successful recovery for a brisk day in late October.
Bob, no BS I was referring to air bags helping execute a Capistrano Flip in a large heavy canoe, not re-entering. This is may be the only way to empty such a canoe if no other canoes are around. If the OP is concerned about dealing with this situation, air bags can help. I’ve experimented with this many times over 20 years of teaching safety and rescue and yes, if the Flip is the only option, air bags make all the difference in the world.
I’m trying to offer solutions to the OP’s concerns. Why are you so angry in your response, throwing around the BS word? What’s your problem?
My response was not directed to you, or anything you wrote; even though you obviously perceived it to be.
My response was to roanguy who wrote that everyone was giving BS responses to the OP.
I don't believe that to be true.
He stated that the OP would never be able to reenter a swamped canoe, no matter how much practice was done, because he does not have airbags for his canoe. Airbags would certainly make it easier, but the are NOT absolutely necessary to successfully reenter a swamped canoe. I gave examples.
I never referred to the Capistrano flip once.
But since you mentioned it: I suspect the OP & his family would not attempt that technique, with or without airbags.
My reasoning behind that assumption; the other 2 members of the family (as stated by OP) are hesitant to even go out on the water in the canoe for fear of capsizing. The Capistrano flip takes teamwork.
Pagayer, why are YOU so angry about my one time(throwing it around???) use of the abbreviation BS? You just used the same abbreviation in your post's subject line! What's wrong with you?
Bob, truce I think there is an understandable mix-up here. I had written in a previous post about air bags helping in the event a Flip was the only emptying option. Your post seemed to be directed directly to that subject. Sorry for the mix-up.
I also was put off by roanguy’s remarks. There is no BS about safety and rescue. A paddler can never learn too much about this subject.
Get a rope about 4 feet long I tie one end around a support as close to the center of the canoe and I tie a bowline knot in the other end. Now you can put you foot in the loop and use it like a stirrup on a saddle to get back in the canoe. Once you adjust the rope to the right length just coil it up and put a rubber band around it so it will be ready to use at a moments notice and will be out of the way the rest of the time.
When you say to use that rope and loop as a stirrup, I assume that the rope must go over the gunwale on the opposite side of the boat from the side you are climbing into, correct? Anyone who's practiced or tried to enter a canoe from the water already knows you can't just put your weight on the near gunwale or you'll just get clobbered by the gunwale on the opposite side as the boat rolls over on you. Using a stirrup instead of your arms to apply weight to the gunwale doesn't change what the boat does when all that weight is applied to one edge.
I've never heard of anyone using a stirrup to enter a canoe, but attached to the opposite side of the boat, I imagine it could work. However, I envision serious complications as you push down with your foot and the rope immediately "pendulums" toward the far side, as nothing can stop the rope from assuming a vertical position once it's carrying your weight. This would put your lower body half under the canoe. I'd like to hear from someone who's actually tried this.
Maybe if you attached the rope by wrapping it around the whole boat, you could at least position the stirrup under the centerline, but honestly the more I think about this, the less it seems to me like it addresses the real complication, and that's how to get your body over the gunwale without rolling the boat.
The only time I ever practiced re-entering a canoe, it was with solo canoe that was bagged (not "fully bagged", but "very well bagged"). I didn't have the benefit of an expert coaching me, but I was unable to get back in, and let me assure you, I'm no slouch when it comes to mobility. I agree with others that tandem re-entry would be much easier than solo. No matter what anyone says, getting into a canoe by yourself isn't going to be made simple just by having air bags.
Guess I should have started with having One person on each side of the canoe, one on the offside counter balancing the canoe while the first person gets in. After the first person gets in then they will lean over the offside while the second person uses the stirrup to get in.
