How to SELF RESCUE

a little tip: it's even easier if you keep your chin as low to the deck as you can when your pulling yourself up on the kayak.

Great tip and video for us newbies.. Thanks Mooch..

I prefer this method....

http://www.sit-on-topkayaking.com/Articles/Instruction/DeepWaterReEntry.html


*another tip is try to limit what you have on your PFD pockets as they may get in the way when you pull yourself up on the kayak.

Anyone else ever bonked there head with the kayak when flipping it back over?

Anyone else ever bonked there head with the kayak when flipping it back over?

Hey Brian.....try doing it sober next time 

I find it easier for me to flip the kayak back over from the stern area.  Just have to grab the rear handle/toggle underwater with one hand, and reach over that hand with my other and grab the underwater edge of the yak.  Using both hands as a team, one hand pulls the yak up and over, and the other pushes down and out all a the same time. 

Probably wouldn't want to do this in fast moving water or heavy wind without a tag line to maintain control of the kayak until in position to do the flip.

other than the pfd full of crap, some of us have another large protrusion.  No,  higher than that protrusion. 

 I refer to the belly.  For those of us of the Buddha persuasion, it helps to think about how to get your gut over the side and let gravity do the rest.  Play around with it, but I found that both hands on the near side assists in getting the   belly over the edge.

Another tip is to use the kayak to push yourself down just before re-entering your kayak. The buoyancy of your PFD (and wetsuit if you're wearing one) will give you a bit of momentum on the re-entry.

i think the main key here is just to get out on a lake and practice, the whole i saw a video once attitude is bound to get someone in trouble.

Its not as easy as it looks the first few times then it gets eaiser

The re-entry looks good, but the flip-over method shown seems more difficult than the way they taught us at the MBK safety course.  From the side, just reach underneath the kayak to the other side and grab a hold of your seat straps and pull on them towards you, while you push up with your other hand on the side in front of you.  Takes only a few seconds, and doesn't waste any of your re-entry energy.

AlsHobieOutback

That's also how Outback Adventures teaches people how to flip over their kayaks.  It's hard enough for some people to seal launch themselves up onto the kayak during the actual reentry so having them do it one more time could be one too many especially if the person is exhausted or in a slight panic.  If you are really having a tough time flipping your kayak over by pulling on the seat straps or carry handle on the opposite side while pushing up on the other, then the Ken Whiting video is good option.  The important thing is to have a bag of tricks which you have practiced many times before and use the best one possible for the given situation.  Also remember that there may be a time where you are dictating to someone how to perform a self rescue and just because your technique works for you doesn't mean it works for them.  Here's another reentry method I just recently posted on this forum the other day...

If you find it difficult to reenter your kayak you could could perform a paddle float reentry as used by sea kayakers and even combine it with a stirrup in order to assist you getting up and over your kayak.  There are many nuances in performing both self rescues and assisted rescues with a sit-on-top.  The key here is to practice various scenarios and only paddle in conditions in which you have practiced rescues with experienced friends or professional kayak instructors.

Here's a link that describes the above mentioned reentry: http://sit-on-topkayaking.com/Articles/Instruction/PaddleFloat.htm This method may be good for the folks that e2g mentions above as, "having another large protrusion" in addition to their PFD.

i think the main key here is just to get out on a lake and practice, the whole i saw a video once attitude is bound to get someone in trouble.

 
Kayak James, that was well said.  Practice practice practice.

If any NCKA members want to take our Sit-on-top Skills and Safety course, let us know and we can set up an NCKA only day and give everyone a good deal.

Alot of good stuff on here especially for a noob like me.

This video is noteworthy because the kids have obviously played on the boat long enough to know how to get back on - even on the bottom of the boat!  The adult filming the video doesn't even flinch to have those kids flip and go in the ocean, and that's because they have all obviously done their due diligence and practiced flipping and re-entry. 



For anyone out there who hasn't mastered getting back in to your yak, do it, often!

That Float looks very handy. Do any of you guys know where to get one of those.