Re: [Paddlewise] Bow Flotation

Guys, I thought I would throw in a few cents even if it may sound like a
sermon. One advantage of an open boat is that while it fills quicker than a
decked boat it also drains easier. I have been on a beginners trip that had a
near boat wrap when a capsized canoe in waist deep water in a modestly moving
current was caught on a rock. The forces were easily high enought to deform
the boat (wrap it) on the rock and when others got to it was already partly
folded. It was a brand new 1,000$ boat and the owner was crying and cussing.
The canoe was lacking full floatation. (If it had full floatation there would
have been no problem because it would float high enough to keep it off the
rocks.) With the open boat we were able to get bodies on it fast enough to
roll it over down in the water (as opposed lifting it straight up which is
near imposible). Once upside down we could lift it up and drain it empty on
the same move which saved the boat. 
        This summer a friend lost a boat on the Rio Grand headwaters. It
drifted onto a rock in stomach deep water with a mild current. We were nowhere
near fast enough this time. He was running white water in a boat with full
floatation installed inadequetely. On a moderate drop his front bag came out,
the boat filled and he lost the boat. When we caught up to it down in calm
class I water it was a pancaked against the rock. We tried for a long time
with several pullers, a rescue rope and a z-drag but that boat was not moving.
What was truely surprizing was how dificult it was to wade out to that boat.
Even with the sandy bottem and modest current it was pretty hairy.
          I frequently paddle decked boats--C-1's. I loose them on occasion
(class IV and V whitewater) and have to recover them to the shore. I am amazed
at how heavy they are even with everything but the cockpit filled with air.
(unlike a kayak a C-1 uses full size airbags in the bow which come up to the
knees (C-boaters kneel). I turn them upside down and try to dump em but being
decked this is very ineffective in anything but a shallow and still eddy.
Unlike an open boat doing a wet entrance is very tricky. The darn thing is so
rolly that unless two guys are holding you it is near impossible. I am amazed
that I can pull in a 17', fully loaded canoe easier than I can my little boat.
The decked canoes are always fully floated and can be drained reasonably in
any thing but deep water.
          I also kayak. A pool session game we have is to deliberately swamp
the bow and try to keep the boat upright. It is very exhausting and is a
balance drill that rivals surfing a huge hole. I can't imagin anyone wanting
to go through this on river. It is hard enough to manage in a pool. 
      In hard water sometimes accidents happen and the boater is drifting
unconscious or semi conscious and upside down until his friends can pull him
up and revive him. In a floated boat the boat and the PFD often keep the head
out sideways with the mouth out of the water. In that setting it is critical
that the boat be fully floated so that it doesn't sink with the body or get
hung on undercut rocks.
           There is also my formentioned experience last summer with Mark's
daughter's boat. We were very lucky not to loose it on very easy water.
           I realize that you are sea kayaker and live in a diferent reality
than us river boaters do. The wildcard in your hobby is one that you brought
up yourself--the wind. The wind and the waves it causes is most likely what
will give you the need to practice the we reenty and recover. Your situation
in open water will not be like the pool where you feel secure with your set-up
and your ability to manage your boat. Open water waves and swells in my
experience are at least as bad as the type you find on rivers and the
challenges of reentering or bringing a boat into land are at least as great on
windy day (blowing out of course) as they are in almost any river. A look at
the accident literiture for sea-kayaks should bear this out. 
         The best case might be the story my friend shared with me last summer
where a outward bound trip went out on a calm sunny day off the N. Sea.. The
wind blew out hard dumped several boats and a tragedy occured that needed have
been.           
          I am not certain of how good a boater you are or how easy of water
you boat. Even if you only boat in a swimming pool or the equivalent my best
advice is to float everything with the maximum number of airbags. It is a
habit, like wearing seat-belts or a PFD. There will come a day when you
gradually venture to deeper, faster water and this habit will pay off with a
saved boat and maybe more. Good Luck ~~Dennis Adams   

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