Unplanned rescue practice

Advice
,
#1

A sunny Saturday with the temps in the upper 70s and a light wind is a perfect afternoon for a paddle on a local 410 acre no wake like in a State Park. An organizer for our club Meetup posted a pop-up paddle for 2:30 PM. I grabbed boat & gear & headed out to meet the group. There were four of us from the club at the launch. All wearing lifejackets & using better than needed for the venue kayaks. What could go wrong?

As it turns out one of the paddlers was feeling shaky in his kayak. About 1/3 of the way around the lake we stopped in a cove for a water break. Moments after we stopped we had a swimmer. Now it was time to remember those ACA L2 instructor skills & get the kayak emptied and him back in it. Emptying the kayak was fine. Coaching someone who had never seen an assisted rescue let alone participated was challenging. It took a couple of tries but he was back in and we were on our way. The good parts: he didn’t have a spray deck, his kayak has two bulkheads and decent deck lines, and my shoulders and hands held up to the load. That last part is important as I’ve not been sure what I’m capable of this year recovering from prostate surgery and sorting out arthritis and carpal tunnel.

The next swimmer was me although that was planned. Maybe ¾ of the way around the lake there was some discussion about paddle float re-entries. I flipped & did a wet exit (I do use a spray deck). I failed on my paddle float re-entry though. I couldn’t lock my fingers around the paddle & near deck line. An assisted rescue from the trip organizer got me in & pumping out. That’s another good thing, that I’m still able to heel hook in fairly easily – first this year.
While I’m pumping out we get swimmer #3, our first swimmer. He probably reached over to a dropped paddle. The organizer emptied his kayak but asked me to help with the re-entry as she is petite & also didn’t have a full skirt on her kayak. We got him back in and, after consideration, set up a supported tow. Fortunately, the organizer had thrown in a throw bag as I had looked at my tow belt and said ’nah not needed’. Our fourth paddler offered to join the fun and got in about ¾ mile of towing practice. All told, a good but interesting afternoon on the lake.

After thoughts:

  1. The organizer is a long-time friend of our swimmer. She looked up his list of medications and saw the most have balance issues as side-effects.
  2. I’m pleased to see that I remember some of what I’ve been taught & practiced.
  3. I’m also pleased to learn that I’m close to 90% of the paddler I was a year ago.
  4. I need to revisit the paddle float re-entry. Thinking later I probably set the paddle in the far deck line like a Euro but I paddle a GP. That means that I was likely trying to wrap my hand around the blade & not the loom plus the deck line.
  5. Take the damn tow belt & first aid kit even though you are sure that you will not need it.
  6. Keep that rescue equipment between your ears in shape & up to date!
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#2

I agree that it is important to revisit what we have learned. I love you then deciding to do a demonstration turning it into a training session. I am sure it made for a much more interesting and exciting day on the water than the original plans.

I sometimes think I am carrying all this extra gear and rarely ever needing it. Wouldn’t it just be simpler to go out less incombered and save a bit of time getting on an off the water. I have towed people on several occasions over the years and that reminds me perhaps I shouldn’t discount the potential for needing it. I have only dealt with one unintentional capsize of a kayaker in some rough ocean conditions, but the recovery went smoothly. What we both learned though was not to watch the pump going up and down while being rocked and rolled by the waves because that is a good way to become seasick in short order. Look out at the horizon while pumping to avoid becoming queasy. We both paddled to shore to settle the queasiness. I don’t get motion sick easily so found it surprising how quickly we were affected.

I recently did some reentry practice with a new kayaker at the sailing club I did both a paddle float reentry and a cowboy reentry to demonstrate the techniques and then had him do them afterward. I didn’t do an assisted reentry with him because I thought it important to teach him how to do it by himself first. Perhaps next time as I haven’t done one in a kayak in a long time. I did do one with a canoe from a canoe on Rock Springs Run a few years back when 3 people flipped. We launched and recovered the canoe while they waited on shore. We flipped it upside down and pulled it across then flipped it over and slid it back into the water. It was a bit harder than dealing with a kayak with bulkheads because of the amount of water involved. I doubt I could do it from my solo canoe.

1 Like
#3

Reminds me that I can’t remember the last time I tried to do a self rescue in my Hornbeck pack canoe. I replaced my DIY, larger (but leaky) bow and stern float bags with a smaller set from Oru kayaks. Don’t know how much less water displaced and the impact on self rescue… On the to-do checklist.

-sing

#4

Good job doing the recoveries (better word than rescue, IMHO)!

Many don’t practice hem as much as they should, so godo that you did and good that you see areas for yourself to practice.

#5

I need to get back to practicing rescues (beginner sea kayak symposium a month ago)but I’m going to wait a bit longer. I got pretty banged up and even now the right side feels a bit tender although it hasn’t stopped me from paddling a few times since then.