C-Forum

Howdy all,

My experiences "safety boating" this weekend brought up some questions and I was wondering what other people do. Basically, I was safety boating for kayakers over the weekend. I never have any trouble doing this in a C1 or a kayak (back when I used to paddle one), but trying it in the OC1 caused all sorts of problems.

I paddle an Esquif Detonator, which doesn't have any convenient spots for a swimmer to grab (no rope grab loops or painters outside the boat). How do people typically go about swimmer rescue in their OC1's? It's all fine and good paddling beside someone encouraging them, but sometimes it'd be nice to do more.

Paddle rescue is no problem, but boa(kayak/C1) rescue is another matter. For OC's I typically do a quick boat-over-boat to empty and flip the canoe and then push/drag it by its painters to an eddy. I tried boat-over-boat for a kayak and found it just didn't work readily. I'll assume the same goes for a C1. I've never liked just barging (pushing) a boat into an eddy as I find it awkward and tend to just go right over the top of a kayak when I'm in the canoe. In decked boats I would typically use a tow line and tow the boat to a convenient eddy, but my tow line is too short for use in my Detonator (5' line) so I wasn't wearing it over the weekend.

Basically, I found it very frustrating trying to safety boat over the weekend (especially since I was lead boat and multiple times - despite my requests for experienced kayakers to stay up front with me - I'd end up with just me and one or two stressed out beginner kayakerd who couldn't catch eddies way in front of the group and then one of them would flip and swim - I also haven't figured a way to t-rescue out of the canoe)

My questions - what do others do to rescue decked boats and swimmers when you're paddling OC1? Is there a good way to do the equivalent of a t-rescue for a flipped deck boat when you're in a canoe?

Any input most appreciated.

Matt, My prelude has 2 small grab loops at the bow and stern, I tell swimmers to hold on to one of them while I get them to shore.
One modification I will do over the winter is to attach loop of bungee cord to my stern deck, this will allow me to stoe a throw bag there. If you attach the loose end of the rope with a carabiner to the grab loop, then you can use your throw bag for 2 things:
1) rescue swimmers: reach back (only works in a short boat, Detonator should be o.k.)pull the bag out of the loop and throw it to the swimmer, then drag him to shore.
2) self rescue if you happen to swim; simply pull the bag out of the bungee loop and swim to shore, once you are there brace yourself and swing your boat to shore. I used this technique years ago back in europe in the alps , works like a charm on smaller and not too fast flowing rivers. Make sure you have a long (100ft) rope otherwise you risk running out of rope fast.

As for rescuing boats, I have a rescue PFD with a Quick release belt and a cow tail, so I simply hook the carabiner of the cowtail to the boat that needs to be rescued and pull it to shore. I don't try any t-rescues or so, usually I find it much easier to just pull the swamped boat to shore and dump the water out there.

hope this helps

martin

Hi Martin

Thanks

Let me clarify slightly though - by T-rescue, I mean a bow-rescue of a flipped decked boat (or an OC, although I've never seen that actually done) whereby (if you're in a decked boat) you give the flipped paddler (still in their boat) your bow. They grab it while upside down, orient themselves, then do a hipsnap to right themselves while holding your bow It's a lot easier than rolling using a paddle and a lot easier for the rescuers as it negates the need to rescue a swimmer and gear. It's really useful when folks haven't got a roll yet.

I realised in reading your post that in canoeing a t-rescue can also describe a boat-over-boat style rescue of a swamped (and paddler-free) boat.

Matt

Hi Matt, Yes, I was thinking from an open boaters prospective.
I am not sure if a Kayak style T-rescue with an open boat would be difficult, since the grab loops are very high up and probably out of reach. I have practised this style of rescue in a seakayak, but never in my canoe.
I haven't tried it out yet, but you might approach the capsized yak sideways and give them your hand to grab on, although it might be difficult to keep your balance. Another alternative that I have seen, but never tried myself, and I am not sure if it would work from an open boat is the 'Hand of God' rescue, where you also approach the capsized boat from the side lean towards it, grab both the near and far edge of the boat and start lifting the far edge up while pushing the near one down. I have seen that done from yak to yak and was surprised at how fast and apparently easy the boat came back up .
Well, at least it's something different to try out in the pool during the winter

martin

From someone who has done a fair amount of teaching of beginner closed boaters, I would advise caution with the 'Hand of God' method.

It can be successful if the closed boater is aware that this is something that may occur and know to wait for it as in the T rescue (or eskimo rescue).

However, if the closed boater is not expecting someone to grab their boat and flip it, it can lead to leg and back injuries if they are in the process of a wet exit.

I have seen it work well and also go very wrong,

My 2 cents,

Natalie