RE: [Paddlewise] Bow Lift Rescue

Dan McCarty wrote:
<SNIP>>>>>>I don't have an inflatable paddlefloat.  If it has to hold air it
won't so
I have a foam paddlefloat.  Its bulky but it works and I don't have to
worry about blowing it up or it leaking.  I have not compared it with an
air float but I suspect the my foam float has more bouyancy than the air
bladder examples I have seen.  I don't have a roll so rentering the boat
and rolling is not an option.<<<<<<<

While I have nothing against foam paddle floats (other than their bulk and
where to store them). I like the 30 seconds or so of blowing up time saved.
However, many inflatable paddle floats have two chambers as a back-up and
even the rare leak in a single chambered inflatable is likely to be slow
enough to allow a rescue to be performed before it deflates too much. It
would take a huge bulky foam float to equal the buoyancy of the larger
inflatable floats.

Dan continued:
>>>>>The problem with hand pumps is that they are very slow.  I think they
are
all but useless if you have lots of water in the boat.  I can drain almost
all the water out of the water filled kayak in seconds by lifting the
bow.<<<<<

While the common 1 3/4" diameter hand pumps are too slow they are faster
than foot pumps, deck mounted pumps and even some small electrical pumps.
One benefit of them is you are mostly out of the cold water while you are
working them, but even more important they are inexpensive and will work
with almost any kayak that has adequate flotation. The bow lift rescue
should be practiced because in certain situations it can be a lot faster
than a pump at emptying the water. The problems with it are that it is both
boat and conditions specific. It won't work with some kayaks and it won't
work with almost all heavily gear laden kayaks. Learn it but don't leave
your pump at home.  If you weigh enough I'd also practice pushing down with
all your weight on the very stern to raise the bow and then rotate (along
the long axis) the kayak to break the suction at the cockpit and drain the
cockpit. This is unlikely to work with a loaded kayak either but you don't
need the extra buoyancy of a float to lift the bow that way (and if you
didn't have your float tethered it may have blown away when you had it not
tucked securely enough under your arm).

Matt Broze
http://www.marinerkayaks.com


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