Re: [Paddlewise] Bow rescue

Yes, many paddlers begin exiting their kayak before they have even hit the
water. Still, I have done bow and side rescues many times in sea kayaks. It
is just that it is a really a "re-enter and bow or side rescue". The victim
usually doesn't even have to stick their head back underwater to re-enter
since they can usually do so while hanging on to your bow (or a paddle shaft
bridging the two boats) while they re-enter from the side.

If you are the victim doing an Eskimo side rescue be sure to come up very
slowly. I have hit my head hard on the other kayak during practice. As the
victim, hanging on to the paddle shaft as your point of contact (and
leverage) you don't have much control of how far the kayaks are apart. For
this reason come up slowly and make room for yourself between the kayaks.
You have plenty of leverage from this position and because the paddle
bridges the boats the rescuer also has a solid platform from which to help
pull you up if that is necessary.

An advantage WW paddlers have is that they can turn their kayak almost
instantly. This helps when starting towards the victim from an angle and
once near the victim to get your kayaks bow lined up right where the arm
waving victim can find it. The average (of 428 North American single
recreation and sea kayaks I tested for this) take a little over 6 seconds to
spin through 90 degrees.   For 81 Non-North American touring kayaks it was
about 7.5 seconds. The longest in each group took over 1.5 times (N.A.) to
over 2.5 times (Non-N.A.) longer. Is it any wonder that so few (who can't
roll) are going to squander what air they might need trying to get
unentrapped while hanging out waving their arms about on each side of the
kayak (before even finding out if they are going to be entrapped or not)
until just before running out of reserve air.
Personally, I see far more value in a re-enter and Eskimo bow or side rescue
than I do in a re-enter and roll. While they do share the "full of water
kayak syndrome" just like the re-enter and roll the Eskimo rescues are a lot
quicker in getting the kayaker back in the kayak and upright than most
rescues. I think they are safer for the rescuer too, especially if the
victim is heavy and possibly could be overpowering in a "climb up on the
righted kayak with help rescue", especially if the victim doesn't know
exactly how to do it in a manner that keeps both kayaks stable (or in a
semi-panic does not follow directions well or shifts weight around too
fast). The re-enter and bow or side rescues have been my choice for righting
strangers I have come across who needed rescuing. Especially with the bow
rescue, there is not much the victim could do to capsize me even if he
tried.

One word of caution before trying one of these with a stranger in a strange
kayak. Be sure that the victims kayak has plenty of flotation in each end or
a re-entry and Eskimo rescue may help to sink it. I know this from
experience too. The first time was in 1984 at the L.L.Bean Symposium during
a group trip. After the rescue the boat was sitting unexpectedly low so I
asked the victim if the (folding) kayak he was using had any flotation in
it. He didn't know, he had just borrowed it from the beach for the tour. It
didn't have much if any. John and Bea Dowd (folding kayak experts) came
along about then and helped get the kayak emptied out. One other time I came
upon a kayaker swimming next to his old original Aquaterra Chinook in
Seattle's Montlake cut among heavy powerboat traffic. this time before
proceeding I asked if he had flotation in his kayak. He said yes. He
reentered and came up easily but his coaming edge was now about 2"
underwater. We managed to get him pumped out by holding the spraydeck in
place on the cockpit rim as best we could (it kept wanting to pop off) while
pumping out through the waist hole until we finally got some freeboard. Sure
enough, his kayak had the flotation bag it was sold with in the back and it
was fully inflated. I called a manager at Aquaterra that I knew and asked
why they would sell such a little WW bow sized float bag for flotation in
that big kayak. He said they wanted to still have some room to store gear in
the back.
I pointed out that with a full sized float bag one could just let out some
air if they needed space and if the gear was stored in a waterproof gear bag
they wouldn't be loosing much in flotation in either situation (with or
without gear). They soon began making somewhat bigger float bags for the
boat. Foam bulkheads in the stern came a little later for the Chinook but
they didn't stay sealed very well so they didn't seem like much improvement
to me.

Matt Broze
www.marinerkayaks.com
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