Paddlefloat rescue or paddlefloat reentry and roll. Kayakers, In past years I have found myself in the critical places where waves break and keep you in what I call the black hole. Boat, paddle and paddler converge in that same place where incoming waves encounter out coming back flow. In both occasions I had to find a way to reenter my kayak and to get out of there, fighting breaking waves and rising and lowering swell. For some reason I always ended with my body on the down wave side, but placed my legs inside the cockpit, prepared my paddlefloat on the right paddle end, reentered and rolled. On the worst day, waves would come and hit me hard and the cockpit was full of water. I capsized three times until I learned how to support myself on the paddle float side, bracing to the wave as it hit, and paddling towards shore in the in between. My paddlefloat has bag only on the reverse side, so I can use a little bit of the power side to move forward. The second time I had a double bag paddlefloat and once I did reenter and roll, I could not move away from the black hole, since my paddlefloat did not allow for any forward motion. Since then I only carry a one side paddlefloat. Last year crossing the Sea of Cortes with 4 foot waves and good wind, I capsized due to weakness and certain kind of dizziness, but once in the cold water I woke up and did a paddlefloat reentry and roll. I used the paddlefloat for support while pumping out. When almost finished my friends came close and gave me energy bars and chocolate an Gatorade and I did recover to continue with the trip. So, my conclusion is that in the real conditions, the best way to get back in the kayak is paddlefloat reentry and roll. Under the conditions I was in, I would not even think of trying the traditional paddle float rescue. That would have drained my remaining energy, with possibly several capsizes. Best regards, Rafael Mier Mexico www.mayanseas.com *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************Received on Wed Apr 15 2009 - 05:33:27 PDT
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