Re: Paddle Float Recovery

Posted by LeeG on Jun 2, 2005

a few points. 1. Pf recovery was developed for narrower sea kayaks in gentle waters as it's a conflicted self-rescue in rough water. It was not designed for rec. kayaks. IMHO it's an intermediary self-rescue technique until a person learns to roll since rolling keeps you in the kayak and requires a tiny fraction of the energy needed for re-entry and pump out. Even then re-entry and roll with a paddle float can be much more secure than climbing on the aft deck which is another reason to learn how to roll.

2. aft deck straps/bungies are NOT essential for doing a pf. selfrescue in SEA KAYAKS. If they are then you'll have problems anyway as anything that holds a paddle shaft well will be that much harder to remove when you need the paddle for bracing(withor without pf on paddle). If you need rigging then you're having a hard time getting on the aft deck anyway and just as likely to try to climb on the paddle shaft and increase the likelyhood of breaking it. If aft deck straps/bungies are essential then a sling will also be worthwhile. At this point we're getting further and further into solutions where skills and judgement failed.

3. Rec. kayak have high aft decks. Doing a pf self-rescue using a high aft deck risks breaking the shaft if much weight goes on the paddle. Aft deck on rec. kayaks is near the stern, climbing up near aft deck is VERY awkward on short rec. kayaks. Self-rescue in a double rec. kayak is possible but in all likelyhood not likely in the conditions that could dump a person unless it was a momentary upset/big wake. If there's another person you can just hold one side while the other person climbs in. The biggest problem will be ALL THAT WATER in the kayak and the HIGH coaming.

This is a good time for folks with MC16 to share their experience self-rescuing far from shore. Basically stable rec.kayaks reduce the likelyhood of capsize enough to make self-rescue academic because of the large amount of free water left in the cockpit that complicates rescues,,ie. hang out until rescued or limit conditions that you'll go out into.

In Response to: Paddle Float Recovery by Ivan Roulson on Jun 2, 2005

Replies:

• Re: Paddle Float Recovery by Brett on Jun 2, 2005
  • Re: Paddle Float Recovery by Paul on Jun 2, 2005
  • Re: Paddle Float Recovery by LeeG on Jun 2, 2005
• Re: Paddle Float Recovery by terry on Jun 2, 2005