Re: [Paddlewise] Impossible Cowboy Rescues

At 02:10 PM 9/7/00 -0400, Coplan, Karl wrote:
>Not to question the experts . . . but it is not impossible to perform a
>cowboy self rescue with an ocean cockpit boat, it is just kind of tricky.  I
>have done it (and flubbed it) several times in my Guillemot Coastal.  I
>taught myself before reading on this list that it was impossible.


>When it works, it requires you to drop your legs into the cockpit first with
>your butt still balanced on the rear deck.  Use a paddle brace while
>dropping your legs in place.  Then slide your butt forward while performing
>a one-armed reverse sweeping  brace with your paddle for balance.  Its the
>same motion as entering the boat from a dock, but using the brace for
>support instead of the dock.
>
>If it works, your butt plops down into the seat just right, before you reach
>the end of your sweep.  IF it doesnt work, you end up capsized again and
>start all over.

See that's what I have a problem with.  The chances of capsizing and having to
start over are just too great to rely on a cowboy reentry as a reentry
technique.  I just don't see the point of practicing a technique which has such
a high degree of failure, except as a balance exercise.   
>
>I agree that this is not much to rely on in rough water (though if you time
>your sliding butt drop sweep to the waves just right it might work in a
>moderate sea).  But the cowboy rescue does come in handy when you are
>practising and testing the limits of your rolls and have to do a wet exit in
>calm conditions.  Saves the trouble of mounting the paddle float and stowing
>it again.

I agree that's it's a fun and quick way to get back in when practicing under
controlled conditions, but I would hesitate to characterize it as a self
*rescue* technique.

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