The Bowline/Deck rope/Leash

I guess I've never thought about one because I would NEVER have one on my ww yaks, and I've never seen any when fishing with others. I'm a little confused to how it's used in the surf. Are you actually clipping a line to yourself in case you eat it? I would imagine, if you have any loose lines on deck you also have a knife attached to your pfd?

I use a bowline, but I don't do surf landings in anything more than shin-high waves.
My bowline is a loop (or trolley) with two sliding snap-shackles (a clip with a solid hole at one end, and a moveable arm on the other that can clip shut to form another hole) , one gets clipped to a short loop of rope at the bow eye, one to the side handle, and the third shackle is fixed to where the ends of the loop are knotted together.  The rope slides through the solid-hole end of the sliding shackles. I made it so I could trolley my sea anchor line forward to adjust the yak's angle to the wind/waves. 
     But I use it mostly as a way to pull the yak on wheels up inclines - I unsnap the shackle from the side handle and clip it to the bow eye - that doubles the loop and makes it half as long, and it's just the right length to put over my head and on to my shoulder so I can pull the yak on wheels up a hill - or the stairs at Stillwater South (hint: turn a little so it's sort of one wheel up at a time).  I also unclip it from the handle when I'm landing, just so I can use it to pull the yak up onto the beach if I miss my grab at the bow handle.
      The whole loop is only about 8 feet long, so not really long enough to be used in a tow by a powerboat, but long enough so it could be handed to rescuers and they could loop a longer line through it.   I also carry a throw rope and weighted float behind my seat that could help out if I or someone else needs rescue.
       I suppose it's possible to get tangled in it when its clipped to the bow eye and side handle, but I think that would be pretty hard to manage, because it's tight to the hull.

Yeah, I don't really see how a bowline helps you land. 

Used to be fairly standard practice to swim through break, I used to dive/fish a lot of places where it was the only option. Sometimes you come in looking at the back of big surf that wasn't there in the a.m.

Also used to wear a fin on one foot which I stopped carrying when I quit diving, will probably start carrying one again after reading Andrew's recent post. On two occasions Ive been caught out behind surf that wasn't even swimable, once at mavericks and once at Stinson. Both times I ended up landing in the dark and at Stinson in very scary surf. If I had a fin handy I would've swam the t160 through earlier and avoided that

You have to be in reasonable shape, I got caught in a GaGaBall pit the other day w a bunch of sadistic 7 year olds trying to kill me and ended up landing on my back outside the pit. Got me thinking I need to start working out

For most people the main usefulness of a line is if the weather goes bad

As Hydrospider put it "boat separation sucks"

It's good to have options

During the lost years, I found a lot of value in having a "bowline" on my SIK.
I swam a lot. Having a deck rope allowed a quick grab to either help drag me out of a situation and/or preventing my boat from being taken downstream without me. Boat separation sucks.



When playing in the zone, I have had far too many moments where I am bobbing about between waves while my boat is long swept away and on the beach. I was giving my all to break through the surf already, and now I'm swimming with the next wave starting to gather itself. I feel so small right before the thundering white pushes me deep, again.
Won't go without a shock cord leash on the paddle.
Time on rafts instilled "If you don't have your paddle, you don't get back in the boat". Those instincts help when you are getting maytaged but still need to be paddle in hand. The leashed boat will help drag me in, or help me get back on and at the ready.

Interesting discussion. I agree, a bow line is a useful item that has a role to play in safety. But using a leash in the surf zone puzzles me, and I'm not afraid to admit it. It's the first time I've seen it advocated; every safety source I've been exposed to strongly recommends unleashing a paddle in the surf zone. It probably is meant to avoid shoulder injury as much as entanglement. Why would you want to be tethered to something as large as a kayak, particularly if you are wearing a PFD, unless the situation is so desperate getting dragged in by the boat is the only way?

Well I get it now... sorta.  But I just generally don't find myself in that type of situation by not chancing it by going out in bad conditions.  It's always good to be prepared for the worst though!  Conditions do change and I've been caught in some bad offshore wind.  One time in my AI I had to toss a PB my throw-bag rope once I got inside the harbor.  The wind was so strong, and it took a lot of effort to even get inside the harbor, that I was exhausted and needed help to keep from being blown up against the rockwall.

During the lost years, I found a lot of value in having a "bowline" on my SIK.
I swam a lot. Having a deck rope allowed a quick grab to either help drag me out of a situation and/or preventing my boat from being taken downstream without me. Boat separation sucks.



When playing in the zone, I have had far too many moments where I am bobbing about between waves while my boat is long swept away and on the beach. I was giving my all to break through the surf already, and now I'm swimming with the next wave starting to gather itself. I feel so small right before the thundering white pushes me deep, again.
Won't go without a shock cord leash on the paddle.
Time on rafts instilled "If you don't have your paddle, you don't get back in the boat". Those instincts help when you are getting maytaged but still need to be paddle in hand. The leashed boat will help drag me in, or help me get back on and at the ready.

Interesting discussion. I agree, a bow line is a useful item that has a role to play in safety. But using a leash in the surf zone puzzles me, and I'm not afraid to admit it. It's the first time I've seen it advocated; every safety source I've been exposed to strongly recommends unleashing a paddle in the surf zone. It probably is meant to avoid shoulder injury as much as entanglement. Why would you want to be tethered to something as large as a kayak, particularly if you are wearing a PFD, unless the situation is so desperate getting dragged in by the boat is the only way?

That was my impression as well.

One thing that never gets mentioned is safety of others

Kids and dogs playing in the surf will go to a kayak like a magnet

On small beaches like Muir I either look for an open spot or whistle up parents on the beach and do the pantomime to let them know I'm landing and to keep their kids out of the way

I've been launching some spots for over forty years where state park police and lifeguards let me know they have discretion to turn kayaks away (e.g. Muir, Natural Bridges, Stinson)

Same discussion every time, I show them my clean light yak and tell them I'm all about landing away from other living creatures

now that fishing kayaks have multiplied like rabbits the potential for problems went up exponentially

Most people are careful but a lot of people are launching and landing right through the middle of kids dogs surfers, it came up in past discussions and I've seen it myself

so if you roll your yak in the surf how are you controlling it without a line of some kind?

I mostly use my bowlines for towing, or to tie down the bow while cartopping. I've used them during wheeleze transport too, as tom mentioned. I put them on during a Channel Islands trip, when it was specified that all kayaks had to have one (for safe transport to the beach from the ferry boat).
It is nice to have an extra line to grab in the soup sometimes. in that vein, I added toggle handles to my main yak since i was afraid i'd one day break my wrist trying to hold the yak straight with the rigid handles.

as for paddle leashes, I don't use them, except in my little 10' surf boat in crowded conditions. For that special circumstance I'm sold on the paddle leash. On a fishing yak, not so much, but Bluekayak has a point about landing on a beach full of kids and people.