Kayak Practice 6\/16\/20<\/p>\n
Practice, practice, practice.\u00a0 After having lost a few of our novice visitors in the last couple of years we felt it would be a good idea for us\u2014the so called experts\u2014who can\u2019t rescue even ourselves to do some self-rescue practice.\u00a0 We are embarrassed because we kayak all the time, but never practice safety.\u00a0 So, after watching “YouTube Videos” for a week, we held our first practice session this week.\u00a0 I believe we could earn the grand prize for America\u2019s Funniest Videos.<\/p>\n
We practiced 4 different techniques to see which ones we could successfully complete.\u00a0 The \u201cCowboy\u201d where you simply \u201chorse\u201d yourself up from the water, crawl up the back of the kayak and plant your butt in the cockpit and you are safe. \u00a0Sounds simple.\u00a0 The second procedure was to do a \u201cpaddle float\u201d rescue which uses a float on the end of a kayak paddle and then acts as an outrigger giving you considerably more balance for re-entry.\u00a0 A third option employs a paddle strap wrapped around your paddle, slipped under the boat, and then wrapped around your paddle on the other side \u2013which has a float on the end.\u00a0 You put your foot into the step that is created by the strap and then simply climb into the cockpit.\u00a0 This one is doable.\u00a0 The final rescue we explored was a 2 man\/kayak assisted rescue.\u00a0 A surviving kayaker paddles alongside of the \u201cwet\u201d paddler and holds\/steadies his boat while he climbs in.<\/p>\n
Enjoy the video and you will be able to see just how \u201ceasy\u201d all of these techniques are.\u00a0 Some of them are better (younger :)) than the rest of us and their youth shows quite clearly.\u00a0 I would state at this point that none of us are perfect, but we are all willing to keep trying until we are\u2014we are committed.<\/p>\n