"Detonation!!!"
There are times when you WANT to capsize. Any plunging/dumping wave of 4’ and over, curling right over you… If you ain’t got the speed going needed to punch right through the curl, then the next best bet is to just go right over, right quick! Those are the waves I am talking about when I mentioned getting sucked right of the boat by. And, if you get more paranoid about getting sucked out than being capsized, install the seat belt!
sing
Good Thread
All my capizes so far have been in whitewater or surf. Mostly because I was pushing my limits, but sometimes just not paying attenion.
But depending on the boat, I could see myself going over on a trip on the open coast off NORCAL. Just catching a big swell the wrong way, or not paying attenion.
right on!
seat belts may becoming mandated surf kayak equipment man! The coast guard will stop you in the break zone and ticket you if you’re not wearing it man, and if they’re british they’ll check the bildge for a thermos too!
Now, Now…
you’re dumping on my stoke… and disrupting my groove. I think seat belts should be worn as an option for those who choose to. I would never look down on someone who got sucked out of a boat because their seat belt weren’t attached… I’d would haul his butt in to shore and then never surf with him again until he puts one on.
As for the thermos… I don’t even want to surf with someone who puts one of those in a surf kayak. I am not saying he can’t surf… Just not with me, okay? I am sure, however, that he can find the “Brit crowd” who would convince him to get a “tank” like NDK to hold the thermos along with every other concievable gear, short of the kitchen sink. Afterall even a surf session should be treated as an “expedition” of sorts. 
sing
sorry I was trying to be funny again.
It Was Funny…
I am just following on the same vein. 
sing
PS. I am sure, however, some probably thought, “Wow…great idea for safety. Lets mandate ourselves before we get mandated by others…” LOL!
How Could I Forget, Bob?
I only dump in COLD water on the Jack’s Fork. That river’s strainers have my “Number!” WW
Is there a name for this
In between:
Very fast water and fast back current.
A feel like something grabs the canoe from underneath to raise it and dump it while your paddle is just nothing, twidling in thin air.
An immediat dump.
Strong Eddy Line?
Is that what you’re referring to, Twinfalls? I’ve almost dumped in a few of those myself, and have seen a few people swim. Bow hits the eddy and spins the boat while your body’s forward momentum propels you over the gunwales. WW
Demonstrating a boat’s stability
"See how stable this boat is as I lean to the side . . . whoaaa! . . . glug, glug, gurgle"
I ON THE “I” -& I CAN’T COUNT THAT HIGH!
LOL!
But I’m not so sure these count -that skinny twitchy SOT in a beam chop has dumped almost everyone who’s tried to ride our Isthmus in thise conditions -the exception being Sally…! Funny thing is, she, like Jim, is less afraid of the water than she is of its ‘local citizenry’ down here… (But she HAS done the shoreline exit dump, L…)
Then there were all the times in the Scouts in the Grumman Tin Tanks we paddled in the early 60s all over South Florida… But I’m not so sure THOSE count, either: half of them were dumb moves by raw beginner kids who didn’t comprehend moment arms and getting a mass out beyond the center of balance of a boat, and the other half were intentional moves by experienced paddlers who COMPLETELY comprehended moment arms and getting a mass out beyond the center of balance of a boat, LOL! That, and our recreations of the water battle scenes from Ben Hur: RAMMING SPEED!
But there ARE two instances of -ah, what shall we say? Memorably accidental dumps…?
One was in a canoe on the Peace River 25 years ago… I will say one thing -as Jack notes above, be SURE to tether or tie your stuff in; …and I will conclude it this way: Sally & I, despite it all, are STILL married…
The other was a well-meaning move by some newbies in a tandem SOT off Key Biscayne at the mouth of Bear Cut on the Ocean side in a chop. Attempting to come along-side me, they instead T-boned me while I was on the face of a 2-footer -on the downslope side, facing away from them. And again, as Jack notes above, be SURE to tether & tie your stuff in…!
I know whereof Jim speaks when he addresses paddling under the Powel Bridge on the Rickenbacker Causeway leading from Miami to Virginia Key on the way to Key Biscayne. It can get pretty steeply choppy, and the current can be running pretty strong. What he didn’t add in is that boats can be motoring by, adding their wakes to the mess, and you can’t paddle too close to shore, or you’re liable to get snagged by an angler casting, or snag an already cast line -which will probably earn you a scowl, at the least, an warning shout and an invective in Spanish, English, or Creole in the usual, or a deliberate cast in your direction in the worst case, LOL!
I’ve never dumped there, but it IS challenging -ask our our own LindaB -who was surpeised a couploe years back by a mere 50 yard or so stretch she had to negotiate there…
At any rate, despite all the stories, and a few close calls, it obviously is a learning experience for us, collectively, and nothing near terminal, because we all still get out there -often in the same conditions that caused the mis- or maybe not so mis-haps in the first place, and
Paddle On!
-Frank in Miami
May be a swirl.
Something more vicious than an eddy turn.
Bow seen like flying up, while stern dives.
I remember the wind was gusty. Water and wind unstable, unpredictable.
What are the effect of swirls to a canoe ?