Please dont think I use the edge of the pool. I dont. I just like knowing its there.
I do the cowboy scramble. Its is a bit hard. I wanted to use the paddle but I dont think the pool is wide enough.
I have the size to do that. I donât do it anyway, and I usually warn against doing it if one doesnât have very good awareness of keeping a constant grip in the deck lines all the time.
I have seen too many kayakers lose grip of their boat while they move from the cockpit area to the bow and back, and on a few occasions the wind has then blown the boat out of reach. So I prefer to stay at the cockpit area and pump a bit more afterwards.
even in the pool I know I am not ready for trips. I can barely keep the kayak centered in the pool I keep drifting. There is wind yes but I should be able to keep it straight for a bit
@Allan_Olesen
Agree that I donât go any further forward than needed. But if I am more tired that is further forward with the Romany (normal volume) than with the low volume Vela.
The deck line I have on the Romany is 1200 pounds test and if anything slightly loose compared to stock setups. Boat isnât going anywhere as long as I hang onto it. That is also why I have a wrist tether wrapped around my paddle shaft, I can still have the paddle if it slips out of my legs.
There is no reason you canât use the paddle in a cowboy, in fact doing so once you are climbing around on the boat can help your stability and assures you have a good hold on it.
Practicing in a pool is a great start, but doing a rescue in rough water, which is when you will probably end up in the water, is an entirety different thing. Donât equate the two. A few failed attempts will probably leave you too exhausted to continue. A cowboy rescue can be especially difficult in rough water depending on the boat and your ability to balance.
Please get rid of the this âcowboy rescue.â It is insulting to people that raise cattle. Cowboys have nothing to do with boating.
LOL, Nigel Foster has no problem with it. Described on pages 91-92 of his book, The Art of Kayaking.
We could call it the stern scramble! I did 10 of those in the pool and found I need to use my feet more as outrigger then I have been doing.
I also didnt know there were so many politically correct people here lol (I am kidding ppine just so you know)
Okay, I misunderstood you. I thought you said that you were not going forward.
I have a fairly high seat so I try to go till my sternum touches the front of the cockpit combing. Is that far enough do you all think when doing the scramble?
I dont use the paddle for self rescue in the pool as the pool is too narrow. When I go out to the lake I will use the paddle there for self rescue.
I have another question: I have been told to tie my paddle to the kayak, and I been told NOT to tie it to the kayak. Sometimes the advice gets confusing. Do you all have a preference?
Learn to hold onto your paddle with your hands. Attaching it to the kayak (i.e. under a bungee or deck line) means you have a lever arm that may whack you or someone assisting you if you roll back over. Plus, if you keep the paddle in your hands, you can use it to brace while shimmying before getting back into the seat - this will be more necessary as the sea conditions increase.
While youâre paddling or when doing a self-rescue?
Iâve never used a leash when doing a self-rescue, but I have attached a leash when paddling in very gusty winds and waves.
Use a paddle leash until you get tangled in it the first time. Then never again. At least thatâs how it went for me.
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@Allan_Olesen
You have it right, l do move towards the bow in the Romany. Bigger volume boat and l am still coming in at 135 lb. But it is also a better babysitter than the Vela and kinder to technique errors on various rescues so it is my paddling solo in open water boat.
It is an imperfect worldâŚ
You need to learn to capsize never letting go of your boat or your paddle. Except the rules can change in surf if you get between the boat and the beach.
I have a wrist leash wrapped around my paddle shaft. Over the years it has gotten unwound less and less.
would the paddle go on your dominate side? I am right handed so I would tie to my right wrist?
I think it is apt⌠I grew up watching old Westerns and marveled at cowboys who could launch themselves into the saddle from the tail end of the horse. It is far from an insult even if it was maybe movie magic
On the cowboy rescue - as someone who has ridden horses it never occurred to me it could relate to cows.
I normally put things on my right hand, but when you say dominant hand you have already accessed resources with which I disagree. That is an old school concept that most sea kayak instructors I have dealt with found to not be useful 15 years ago. Paddle feather is a different discussion than that dominant hand stuff - at the point a blade is in the water the dominant hand is the closest one. So it switches back and forth as you paddle.
Celia I have to learn the terminology thank you for saying that. When learning any new science or sport, you have to learn.