What exactly is this "cowboy rescue" I've heard about numerous times? I envision some sort of stirup attached to the coming, with which you hoist yourself up into the cockpit, much like a "cowboy" getting up onto a horse. Yep, I'm a rookie :-) Rick *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced/forwarded outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
"Cowboy Rescue" is a self rescue without a paddlefloat or roll. After a wet exit, "belly hop" onto the stern, or pull yourself up on the stern of your boat with a frog-kick as you would in a standard rescue; turn your head and body towards the bow and grab the rear coaming of your cockpit, then the more forward part of the cockpit coaming and pull youself into a position with legs straddled on either side of your boat, with butt into the cockpit ASAP. Then, while straddled, work one leg, then the other into your cockpit. Oila' You've done the Cowboy [self] Rescue. Robert Subject: [Paddlewise] Cowboy Rescues What exactly is this "cowboy rescue" I've heard about numerous times? I envision some sort of stirup attached to the coming, with which you hoist yourself up into the cockpit, much like a "cowboy" getting up onto a horse. Yep, I'm a rookie :-) Rick *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced/forwarded outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
Ok, here's my stupid question for the week: This was demonstrated to us in our beginner class in Monterey Bay, mostly as an example of "you don't want to have to rely on this". The other rescues we practiced were the assisted-T and paddle-float. In both of those rescues the approach to the cockpit was the same - face down on the rear deck, facing the stern, work one leg into the cockpit and then rotate all the way in, staying low. The trickiest part about the cowboy rescue (they called it "scramble") was raising the CG while sitting up to slide your butt into the cockpit and/or work your legs in. My question was/is: Why not perform that rescue from the BOW, sliding all the way beyond the cockpit to a position just to the rear of it, then do a normal insert/rotate cockpit entry? The instructor didn't have an answer other than he'd never heard of that and would have to try it out. Did I just invent something? KeS *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced/forwarded outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
At 09:57 PM 9/6/00 -0500, Robert Cline wrote: >"Cowboy Rescue" is a self rescue without a paddlefloat or roll. > >After a wet exit, "belly hop" onto the stern, or pull yourself up on the >stern of your boat with a frog-kick as you would in a standard rescue; turn >your head and body towards the bow and grab the rear coaming of your >cockpit, then the more forward part of the cockpit coaming and pull youself >into a position with legs straddled on either side of your boat, with butt >into the cockpit ASAP. Then, while straddled, work one leg, then the other >into your cockpit. > >Oila' You've done the Cowboy [self] Rescue. > I don't know why anyone teaches the Cowboy rescue. First of all, if you've got a boat with a small cockpit, it's physically impossible to get your legs under the deck if you're already seated in the cockpit. Next time you try a cowboy rescue try putting your feet in while sitting on the back deck. You might be able to do it with a wide stable boat, but why teach a rescue technique that can only be performed if you've got a stable boat with a large cockpit? Secondly, a cowboy rescue in rough conditions is *extremely* difficult, which means the chance that you're nearly going to get back in, then fall back in the water and have to start over, is high. After two or three failed attempts, it's going to become more and more difficult. In very cold water, you may only get one or two chances to get back in your boat before hypothermia begins to effect you and you start to lose strength and balance control. I think a cowboy rescue is a good balance trick but I wouldn't rely on it to save my life after a capsize in deep, rough water. *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced/forwarded outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
I think it is a useful "trick." It does help improve balance. The skill you learn with the cowboy rescue can save your hull from a few scratches on rough beaches. I'm up for learning all the "tricks" I can. Robert At 09:57 PM 9/6/00 -0500, Robert Cline wrote: >"Cowboy Rescue" is a self rescue without a paddlefloat or roll. > >After a wet exit, "belly hop" onto the stern, or pull yourself up on the >stern of your boat with a frog-kick as you would in a standard rescue; turn >your head and body towards the bow and grab the rear coaming of your >cockpit, then the more forward part of the cockpit coaming and pull youself >into a position with legs straddled on either side of your boat, with butt >into the cockpit ASAP. Then, while straddled, work one leg, then the other >into your cockpit. > >Oila' You've done the Cowboy [self] Rescue. > I don't know why anyone teaches the Cowboy rescue. First of all, if you've got a boat with a small cockpit, it's physically impossible to get your legs under the deck if you're already seated in the cockpit. Next time you try a cowboy rescue try putting your feet in while sitting on the back deck. You might be able to do it with a wide stable boat, but why teach a rescue technique that can only be performed if you've got a stable boat with a large cockpit? Secondly, a cowboy rescue in rough conditions is *extremely* difficult, which means the chance that you're nearly going to get back in, then fall back in the water and have to start over, is high. After two or three failed attempts, it's going to become more and more difficult. In very cold water, you may only get one or two chances to get back in your boat before hypothermia begins to effect you and you start to lose strength and balance control. I think a cowboy rescue is a good balance trick but I wouldn't rely on it to save my life after a capsize in deep, rough water. *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced/forwarded outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
At 12:33 PM 9/7/00 -0500, Robert Cline wrote: >I think it is a useful "trick." It does help improve balance. The skill >you learn with the cowboy rescue can save your hull from a few scratches on >rough beaches. Not if you have an ocean cockpit. As I said, it's physically impossible to sit in the cockpit first, then attempt to put your feet in. Nor is it possible to pull your legs out before getting your buttt out of the seat. The front edge of the cockpit just comes back too far. I also still question the usefulness of a cowboy rescue in rough water conditions. *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced/forwarded outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
Roger Schumann described the Cowboy Rescue in good detail in a Sea Kayaker article a couple of years ago. I don't have the exact reference handy. I have seen this technique demonstrated very well by Roger and by another very athletic paddler here on the Pacific coast. It can be a very quick reentry, and in some ways is similar to simply popping yourself up out of the water and plopping your butt down on a sit-on-top kayak. John Fereira correctly cautions that on a closed-cockpit boat, this is best done with a cockpit long enough for the paddler's legs to be inserted afterwards. But I believe it could be done with a smaller cockpit if a skilled and practiced paddler inserts legs into the cockpit first while sitting on or just behind the aft rim of the coaming (see description of bracing below). In any case, this rescue technique requires agility, good balance, and quick reflexes. And with practice it can be done in very rough water. I have seen this done, with the paddler intermittently lifting the paddle off the deck in front of him, quickly and briefly bracing, then holding the paddle back down on the deck and proceeding forward to the cockpit. The water was rough, deep and cold (tidal rapids) and his kayak was not a wide, stable one. No question about it, this is not for everyone, or even for very many of us. But it can be a very quick way back into an upright position in the boat. Why do it? Some of us (definitely not good role models ;~) play in rough ocean whitewater, in tidal rapids, around rock gardens and sea caves. In such conditions a T-assisted or a paddlefloat-outrigger reentry may not be an option at all. It's either rescue yourself very quickly or you'll have to try to swim away from danger. And there are reasons other than a failed roll for being out of the boat. Some of us have literally had our boats knocked off of us by the rough water. At that point, your only viable reentry options may be the Cowboy Rescue or the Re-entry and Roll up. Kevin Stevens' suggestion of doing a scramble from the bow is interesting and imaginative. On "fish-form" kayaks, which have the cockpit nearer the bow, this might be the quickest scramble path into the cockpit. Kevin, please let us know if you practice and perfect this approach (calm water first, with someone backing you up). I guess that wouldn't be called "Cowboy" though, since there would be no similarity to saddling up. ;~) Maybe you have invented something, so you should get to name it. Of course the safest option, which I would recommend to 99+ % of most everyone, is not to get into such a situation in the first place. Don't go near the rocks or tidal rapids or into the sea caves, and don't put yourself in a position of needing such a challenging rescue technique. Cheers and safe paddling to all, John Somers Date: 2000 10:59:40 -0400 From: John Fereira <jaf30_at_cornell.edu> Subject: RE: [Paddlewise] Cowboy Rescues At 09:57 PM 9/6/00 -0500, Robert Cline wrote: >"Cowboy Rescue" is a self rescue without a paddlefloat or roll. > >After a wet exit, "belly hop" onto the stern, or pull yourself up on the >stern of your boat with a frog-kick as you would in a standard rescue; turn >your head and body towards the bow and grab the rear coaming of your >cockpit, then the more forward part of the cockpit coaming and pull youself >into a position with legs straddled on either side of your boat, with butt >into the cockpit ASAP. Then, while straddled, work one leg, then the other >into your cockpit. > >Oila' You've done the Cowboy [self] Rescue. At 10:59 on Thu, 07 Sep, John Fereira wrote: >I don't know why anyone teaches the Cowboy rescue. First of all, if you've got >a boat with a small cockpit, it's physically impossible to get your legs under >the deck if you're already seated in the cockpit. Next time you try a cowboy >rescue try putting your feet in while sitting on the back deck. You might be >able to do it with a wide stable boat, but why teach a rescue technique that >can only be performed if you've got a stable boat with a large cockpit? > >Secondly, a cowboy rescue in rough conditions is *extremely* difficult, which >means the chance that you're nearly going to get back in, then fall back in the >water and have to start over, is high. After two or three failed attempts, >it's going to become more and more difficult. In very cold water, you may >only get one or two chances to get back in your boat before hypothermia begins >to effect you and you start to lose strength and balance control. > >I think a cowboy rescue is a good balance trick but I wouldn't rely on it to >save my life after a capsize in deep, rough water. > John Fereira On Wed, 6 Sep 2000 at 22:12:34 Kevin Stevens wrote: >OK, here's my stupid question for the week: > >This was demonstrated to us in our beginner class in Monterey Bay, mostly as an >example of "you don't want to have to rely on this". The other rescues we >practiced were the assisted-T and paddle-float. In both of those rescues the >approach to the cockpit was the same - face down on the rear deck, facing the >stern, work one leg into the cockpit and then rotate all the way in, staying >low. > >The trickiest part about the cowboy rescue (they called it "scramble") was >raising the CG while sitting up to slide your butt into the cockpit and/or work >your legs in. > >My question was/is: Why not perform that rescue from the BOW, sliding all the >way beyond the cockpit to a position just to the rear of it, then do a normal >insert/rotate cockpit entry? The instructor didn't have an answer other than >he'd never heard of that and would have to try it out. > >Did I just invent something? > >KeS *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced/forwarded outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
In a message dated 9/7/00 8:02:21 AM Pacific Daylight Time, jaf30_at_cornell.edu writes: << I think a cowboy rescue is a good balance trick but I wouldn't rely on it to save my life after a capsize in deep, rough water. >> The company I work for has a two day class where we teach basic paddling techniques and rescues the first day, and surf technique on the second. I have taught the cowboy rescue the first day, and had people use it IN THE SURF ZONE successfully on the second day! Believe me, paddling back to shore, even in a boat full of water, is a whole lot quicker and easier then having to swim the boat back in through the surf. The cowboy rescue works. Maybe not for everyone, and maybe not all of the time. But then what rescue does work for everyone all of the time? Scott So.Cal. *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced/forwarded outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
Scott: Have you also been successful in teaching people to doing a paddlefloat rescue in surf? One BCU coach I know is so adamantly opposed to the paddlefloat, he refused to acknowledge that using a paddlefloat in surf is even possible. Paddlefloat is worthless except in flat water, he reasoned. Robert -----Original Message----- From: owner-paddlewise_at_paddlewise.net [mailto:owner-paddlewise_at_paddlewise.net]On Behalf Of KiAyker_at_aol.com Sent: Thursday, September 07, 2000 9:03 PM To: paddlewise_at_paddlewise.net Subject: Re: [Paddlewise] Cowboy Rescues In a message dated 9/7/00 8:02:21 AM Pacific Daylight Time, jaf30_at_cornell.edu writes: << I think a cowboy rescue is a good balance trick but I wouldn't rely on it to save my life after a capsize in deep, rough water. >> The company I work for has a two day class where we teach basic paddling techniques and rescues the first day, and surf technique on the second. I have taught the cowboy rescue the first day, and had people use it IN THE SURF ZONE successfully on the second day! Believe me, paddling back to shore, even in a boat full of water, is a whole lot quicker and easier then having to swim the boat back in through the surf. The cowboy rescue works. Maybe not for everyone, and maybe not all of the time. But then what rescue does work for everyone all of the time? Scott So.Cal. *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced/forwarded outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
Robert, you said: <<Scott: Have you also been successful in teaching people to doing a paddlefloat rescue in surf? One BCU coach I know is so adamantly opposed to the paddlefloat, he refused to acknowledge that using a paddlefloat in surf is even possible. Paddlefloat is worthless except in flat water, he reasoned.>> Nothing wrong with a paddlefloat rescue in surf if you don't use the fixed deck method and have a enough time between sets/waves and are skilled and agile. As far as the actual Cowboy rescue in general (whether surf, open sea, or what have you), Matt always reminds me of his friend who can do it first try in 40 knot seas, and hardly needs to shimmy up the deck at all. The guy is also a highly skilled board surfer -- and we know the kind of balance some of these surfers develop. So, much is dependent upon personal balance skills and practice. This is obvious, and has been mentioned before; but I think it bears repeating that many of these skills at rescue are very dependent upon the initiators individual skill. Having said that, I think everyone should give the various methods a try, and once some proficiency is developed, then try them out respectively in rougher conditions. I know for a fact which ones most folks will eventually adopt. For me, the Cowboy rescue does not work out well in small chop, so in really rough water, why try it? I also know most folks don't practice, normally, in the kind of conditions likely to knock them over. As a general rule, it would seem most people need to practice their rescue of choice(s) in conditions that are at least a bit more rough than they normally like to go out in. Once perfected their, they then have half a chance if the "you know what" hits the fan. I tried the cowboy rescue during my Trial Island incident a few years back when I got to the point where I could no longer put my head under the water anymore to perform the reentry and roll or side scoop solo rescue. It didn't work, but I did give it a try as I pulled out various "tools" from my bag of rescue tricks. I do believe everyone should have a back-up self rescue plan (if they are head-underwater-rescue dependent) that precludes having to immerse yourself underwater. That, however, is just my opinion. BC'in Ya Doug Lloyd *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced/forwarded outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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