[Paddlewise] Assisted Rescue Technique

Collin;
I found the technique surprisingly easy.  It was quick and the rescuer
is quite stable.  The only problem I had was in returning the victims
boat to upright I had a tendency to scoop some water back into it.  The
victim in this case had a Romany 18 which is 21.5 inches wide and
therefore doesn't have much room between the cockpit and the side of the
boat.  What is your experience with this scooping?  Also, have your had
a chance to try it in rough water?  
It's so rare to hear something new these days I really enjoyed this.
Thanks again.
John Winskill 

Colin Calder wrote:
>  
> Hi All
  
> A couple of weeks ago I was shown an assisted rescue by a chap called
> Donald Thompson, which I hadn't seen or heard of before. I don't know
> whether anyone other than Donald has developed this rescue, but I was very
> impressed and consider this technique to be the fastest method I've tried
> for emptying a wet exit victim's boat in deep water.
> 
> The rescue is basically a T rescue, deviating from standard at points 4-7:
> 
> 1. Get the victim holding on to your bow toggle.
> 2. Right the victims boat but do not attempt to drain it at this stage.
> 3. Hold the swamped boat's bow toggle and manoeuvre the boat 90º to your own.
> 
> 4. ***This is the clever bit*** If the victims boat is on your right, hold
> the bow toggle firmly in your left hand. Now simply capsize away from the
> swamped boat, holding its bow toggle by your chest, until you are lying
> horizontally on the surface of the water and your boat is ***completely***
> on edge - the momentum of  your body leaning to the water, your boat's hull
> rotation, and the shape of the swamped boats bow lifts the victims boat's
> bow so that it slides effortlessly up and over your kayak, finishing with
> the swamped boats bow by your head and over your boats right hand freeboard
> (or vice versa if you are performing the rescue on your left). The more
> confidently you throw yourself over, the less effort is involved - the
> swamped boat provides tremendous stability.
> 5. With your free right hand rotate the victims boat towards you - its
> cockpit is clear of the water and drains completely.
> 6. Rotate the now empty boat to upright.
> 7. Hip snap up/push the victims bow back to the water. Again this is
> effortless, as the victims boat sliding off does most of the work.
> 
> 8. Swing the victims stern to your bow, raft up and return the victim to
> their boat.
> 
> I tried this rescue with a variety of boats, and was extremely impressed
> with the ease, stability, and speed that it can be performed. It may sound
> complicated, but is very very simple to perform. It will work well with any
> boat with a rear bulkhead (preferably sloping/close to the cockpit), bow
> toggle, and anything but a completely square bow profile (for some
> unfathomable reason Knordkapps seem to have been attracting a bit of abuse
> recently on this list, but trying this out their high rounded bows provided
> the ideal boat shape for this rescue). After about ten minutes practice
> with this technique the sequence 4-6 above become one fluid movement with
> which I could empty a swamped boat in literally about 5 seconds.
> 
> As I see it the advantages with this rescue are:
> 
> You do not need any assistance from the victim, who is always visible to you
> It is blisteringly quick
> It is almost effortless
> It is very stable
> The victims boat does not interfere with any deck mounted equipment you may
> have
> You do not interfere with any deck mounted equipment the victim may have
> Very simple to learn and perform
> 
> Hope this is of interest/understandable - If you haven't tried this rescue
> I can not recommend it more highly.
> 
> Cheers
> 
> Colin Calder
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