Re: [Paddlewise] Reentry & Roll - What then??

G'day PeterO

Just because your boat has water in it doesn't mean you can't paddle it!

I have a capella with IMHO a monstrously over large cockpit, so being a
safety conscious type who likes to fiddle with gadgets I fitted an electric
pump. Switch the pump on before the re-enter roll. I don't fit the deck
submerged, preferring to be back up paddling asap, and let the pump do the
job while if necessary moving out of trouble or re-fitting the spray deck.
However pump or not, if you have bulkheads etc there is no reason why if
needs must you can't just paddle your boat with water in it.  Sure the
handling of the boat changes when flooded (and in my boat particularly the
fore aft trim goes AWOL with lots of bow down trim), but its good practice
for balance and bracing skills to be able to paddle with water in the boat -
Free surface effect blah blah blah  - if you can roll a boat with water in
it i.e. re-enter roll, then you can brace and paddle a boat with water in
it. I was on a 5 star training course last year in fine rescue practice
conditions (Force 5 gusting 6+ and four knots of tide) and there was a lad
demonstrating how to stand up on one leg in a flooded knordkapp HM without a
paddleflat or sp*ns**n in sight. (his party trick exit for rescue practice
was an entertaining cartwheel down the foredeck before splashdown). Paddling
a boat with water in it isn't so hard. Try it.

Handling when flooded is a good reason though IMO to have a boat with
minimal cockpit volume, i.e. well placed bulkheads, pod, or (although I have
no experience with one) so folks on the list say a cockpit sock. For a
smaller volume and cockpit boat (something like say a valley anas or pintail
with ideally an ocean cockpit and bulkhead placed as a footrest) I think
that the electric pump even is pretty redundant - just re-enter roll and
paddle the boat out of immediate danger (the conditions which capsized you
in the first place ... cos this is for real isn't it ;-)) and then empty out
the water by whatever means you prefer - manual pump, rescue, landing etc.
Ever read Brian Wilson's 'Blazing paddles'?. A travel writing classic
paddle-log well worth a read, but relevant here because Brian paddled an old
knordcrap for his round Scotland odyssey which for much of the early trip
leaked badly. Every now and again he would stop and empty it but it didn't
stop him paddling ...  water in boat isn't the overwhelmingly debilitating
problem many folk imagine.


Cheers

Colin

57º19'N  2º10'W


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