Deep Water Self Rescue
I have had some real experience of this when things went pear shaped on me when solo last year, so I tend to give the matter some thought and do some practise sessions now and again.I have just returned from a 3 day trip camping with partner and dog and a full loaded tandem canoe. At the end of the trip I decided to test my self rescue technique, and though I'd share the results with you........
Boat, 17' tandem, fully loaded with 2 barrels, 2 large dry bags, 3 small/medium dry bags, spare paddles, 2 sets of poles (ie 4 sections).
Because we were the only boat in the party all the kit was lashed into the boat (for buoyancy, leashes only of use for emptying the canoe of kit so that someone else can rescue/empty it).
Dog and partner refused to participate, therefore results not directly applicable to real situation. Also, it was flat calm, but cold (ice on margins of water).
Well, with all that weight in the boat I really struggled to turn it over. Working from the centre I was unable to flip the canoe without getting a ducking. It was just too heavy for my personal buoyancy. It might have been okay with 2 of us.
I managed to get it over by crawling over the end, reaching for the opposite gunwale and then hauling back on it. However, this was not easy, and I suspect would not be possible in adverse conditions.
My solution was to run a painter to the centre of the canoe, thread it through a lacing point, throw it over the hull, swim round and haul on it, using my feet to assist. Easy. But high winds might have blown the painter about, so it might have to have been weighted/knotted.
The boat was low in the water despite the luggage acting as buoyancy/water exclusion. This made re entry easy, but again in high winds/waves could be a problem. Bailing, using a BUCKET still took a while. Which is a worry because in a swamped canoe you are vulnerable to further capsize.
Points for your consideration:
How often do you train, and do you use full exped kit when training?
How big is your baler? Should you carry 2 in a tandem?
Train in the boat or boats you have (my mistake last year was to train in one boat, then capsize in another).
At some stage you really need to train in desperate conditions. I have a nasty feeling that some of my ideas will be found wanting in the very conditions that are likely to force me out of the boat in the first place.
Use a dry suit when open water tripping in winter, especially if sailing.
And if sailing, have you tried self rescue when the sail is up. We have, and that adds a whole new dimention of risk and problems.
Happy training, hope you never need to use it. And if it really goes pear shaped, then that is the time to fire that fare which is going to, maybe, save your neck to paddle another day. You do have flares?
This article was originally posted on our Forum HERE.