This may sound nutty, but is there an easy way...no scratch that... Is there a "graceful" way to exit a kayak in water a foot deep or so? I find if I exit next to a sandy bank, where the kayak is parallel to the shore and actually rests on the bottom or withing an inch or so, no problem at all. On the other hand, some of the places I've gone only have a boat ramp to access the water (rocky, no shoreline access). In an attempt to save my kayak from the harsh treatment of the concrete boat ramp, I'll enter and exit in about a foot of water, parallel to the ramp. Getting in is easy enough. Getting out, especially after a long paddle is really quite embassasing. Any tips out there that can save me the embarrasment of getting dunked at the take out? Thanks in advance, Woody P.S. I guess I should describe how I do it now: I lift myself up with my arms onto the rear deck, then I *attempt* to get my feet out and into the water before I flip over on the side. The boat ramps are usually pretty steep so it seem very awkward to hold the paddle to the rear deck and against the ramp while getting out. Score: Me 1 (barely) boat 1 (in front a a crowd no less) *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
Robert Woodard wrote: > > This may sound nutty, but is there an easy way...no scratch that... Is there > a "graceful" way to exit a kayak in water a foot deep or so? > Score: > Me 1 (barely) > boat 1 (in front a a crowd no less) Get use to it, Woody. The boat _always_ wins in front of a crowd. :-) I can't remember how many times I have exited a boat with less than Fred Astaire grace. If it happens in front of people, do what I do: Fake a cramp in your leg! Actually the routine you have been trying, i.e. getting on the back deck and straddling the boat will work more consistently as you get more used to your boat. Or do try the paddle behind your back routine; it will work in the depth of water you describe; albeit, it can be rough on the paddle blade and can break a shaft if you put too much weight on it. ralph diaz -- ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Ralph Diaz . . . Folding Kayaker newsletter PO Box 0754, New York, NY 10024 Tel: 212-724-5069; E-mail: rdiaz_at_ix.netcom.com "Where's your sea kayak?"----"It's in the bag." ----------------------------------------------------------------------- *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
Robert Woodard wrote: > > This may sound nutty, but is there an easy way...no scratch that... Is there > a "graceful" way to exit a kayak in water a foot deep or so? > [snip] I guess I should describe how I do it now: > I lift myself up with my arms onto the rear deck, then I *attempt* to get my > feet out and into the water before I flip over on the side. The boat ramps > are usually pretty steep so it seem very awkward to hold the paddle to the > rear deck and against the ramp while getting out. Much simpler (and easier on the paddleshaft): lift both legs up and over the side of the cockpit. Extend your feet downward and as you lean forward, pivot on the coaming using the backs of your knees/upper thighs as the fulcrum. This will leave you standing, straddling the yak. The rest is easy. Note: won't work if you can not get your legs out on deck from a sitting position. Sorry about that. -- Dave Kruger Astoria, OR *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
>> that... Is there > > a "graceful" way to exit a kayak in water a foot deep or so? > > Much simpler (and easier on the paddleshaft): lift both legs up > and over the side of > the cockpit. Extend your feet downward and as you lean forward, > pivot on the coaming > using the backs of your knees/upper thighs as the fulcrum. This > will leave you > standing, straddling the yak. The rest is easy. As a follow up, this worked great for me! Thanks. My cockpit is pretty small, but I'm able to squeeze my legs out and over the coaming without too much trouble. And like you said, after pivoting up, the rest is easy. I haven't tried it on a boat ramp yet though. It will be just a matter of not being too deep when I stand up 8^) Woody *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
In a message dated 2/9/1999 0:32:50 AM EST, rdiaz_at_ix.netcom.com writes: << I can't remember how many times I have exited a boat with less than Fred Astaire grace. If it happens in front of people, do what I do: Fake a cramp in your leg! >> With that kind of quick thinking and athletic ability Ralph, you ought to be on Broadway! Good one! John *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
In a message dated 2/8/99 8:46:39 PM Pacific Standard Time, woodardr_at_tidalwave.net writes: << Any tips out there that can save me the embarrasment of getting dunked at the take out? >> Woody, You may be interested in my exit method if your environment allows. I also launch at a boat ramp but one that has a small pier (maybe 10 feet long) jutting out into the water for people to walk their boats off of their trailers with. I paddle up perpindicular to it, with my bow under the pier until i can grab it the pier with a hand. Then i pop my sprayskirt, lay a forearm across the pier (or a hand) and center the other hand on the deck right behind the cockpit and slide my butt up onto the rear deck while the other hand is on the pier for balance. Then I grab the pier with both hands and pull myself up while straightening my legs to a standing position. Then just hop up onto the pier. This has worked very well for me, id guess me 15 boat 0. hope it helps, robin lovelock. *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
Woody - I'll post this to the list too, and probably get criticised for it. It's not a technique which is acceptable to all paddlers, but if properly done, it's simple, easy, and safe for both boat and paddle: This will work with a larger cockpit or with a keyhole cockpit, but (for me, anyway) not with the smaller "ocean" cockpits. In a 12-18 inches of water, use the paddle as a brace. Place it across your rear deck, about 4 inches behind the cockpit, **non-power** face upward. Do not sit on the paddle!! Do not let the blade touch the bottom. With your weight right in the center of the boat, one arm supporting your weight on the cockpit rim and one arm supporting your weight on the paddle shaft jright at the sheerline of the boat, slide your butt back, lift one lower extremity (the one on the side where the paddle blade is in the water) out of the cockpit leaving the other leg and thigh in the cockpit. The extremity should come of the boat, into the water, and onto the bottom in one smooth motion. If necessary, let your weight shift very slightly toward the outboard end of the paddle. Lift out the other extremity, turning sideways. Bend your knees acutely, lean forward, and take your weight onto your legs as you come up out of the boat. If you do this right, you'll usually not need to touch the paddle blade to the bottom, but it's there if you need a couple of pounds of bracing for balance control. It is a balance exercise, like much of good paddling technique, and it gets much easier with practice. Here's why some people hate this technique: there are too many folks who actually sit on the paddle as they get out of the boat. That's a wonderful way to wreck a paddle. Does this technique always work, for me? Weeeell......99% of the time... But as others have written, it has failed me when the most important people were watching. One memorable day last summer, a woman I really know well allowed me to borrow her brand-new Surge (a beautiful sporty light-layup kayak, very pricey). "Just don't scratch my kayak" she said as I hopped in. I paddled it for 30 minutes or so, impressed with the boat. As she watched from a dock in the middle distance, I exited the boat - and flipped into the water as I did. Arggggh!!! Ignominy! Embarrassment! Shame! (But I didn't scratch the boat). - Bill Hansen *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
First off, thanks to everyone who replied. It's given me several things to try next time out. This weekend we may get snow but every time I check the weather it looks like things may improve 8^) If my rudder doesn't make it here by the weekend and the weather is ok, I'll give all those suggestions a try. If the rudder does make it...well I guess I'll have to work on installing it and giving the boat a final sanding before starting to varnish it. Of course I may have to test paddle it after the rudder is installed before varnishing... Bill wrote: >It is a balance exercise, like much of good paddling > technique, and > it gets much easier with practice. The first few times out I launched and landed from a sandy shoreline. I said "wow, this getting in and out is much easier than people made it out to be". As I explored different launch sites, the last 3 have been from boat ramps (I forgot one in my original post). These 3 changed my perception... On a side note, of my many, many kayaking trips (7 total), I've written up 6. I posted most to CPAKayaker because they are more local to me, but if there is enough interest in reading how a novice has progressed from paddling in a circle to falling out on landings in just 7 short lessons, I could repost them here. Woody *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
Bob, I think you'll find that the trick is finding exactly where to put the hand that balances on the rear of the coaming when you're getting out. You generally want to keep the weight over the midline of the kayak. The problem is that the balance shifts as you move your legs out of the boat. The process is akin to the one the waitress goes through as she removes all those beer bottles (or coffee cups, take your pick), one by one, from her tray. ;-> -----Original Message----- From: Robert Woodard <woodardr_at_tidalwave.net> To: Paddlewise <paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net> Date: Monday, February 08, 1999 10:08 PM Subject: [Paddlewise] Exiting a kayak > >This may sound nutty, but is there an easy way...no scratch that... Is there >a "graceful" way to exit a kayak in water a foot deep or so? > >I find if I exit next to a sandy bank, where the kayak is parallel to the >shore and actually rests on the bottom or withing an inch or so, no problem >at all. On the other hand, some of the places I've gone only have a boat >ramp to access the water (rocky, no shoreline access). In an attempt to save >my kayak from the harsh treatment of the concrete boat ramp, I'll enter and >exit in about a foot of water, parallel to the ramp. Getting in is easy >enough. Getting out, especially after a long paddle is really quite >embassasing. > >Any tips out there that can save me the embarrasment of getting dunked at >the take out? > > >Thanks in advance, > >Woody > >P.S. I guess I should describe how I do it now: >I lift myself up with my arms onto the rear deck, then I *attempt* to get my >feet out and into the water before I flip over on the side. The boat ramps >are usually pretty steep so it seem very awkward to hold the paddle to the >rear deck and against the ramp while getting out. > >Score: > Me 1 (barely) > boat 1 (in front a a crowd no less) > > >*************************************************************************** >PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List >Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net >Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net >Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ >*************************************************************************** > *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
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