by Haris
The question for this mini-series was the universality of the local practice to upright the capsized kayak before a T-rescue. In the pool, we found things to like about the alternative—lifting an upturned boat—and not a lot to ground the arguments against it. At the end of the day the contest seemed a bit like a toss-up and the upside-down method, at the very least, appeared as a worthy contender.
How would the two techniques fair in a head-to-head comparison in rough water? For now, this is a theoretical study as the Great Lakes fend off encroaching armies of ice and potential testers avoid the drink—even for the sake of science?!
Theoretically speaking, it seems to me that the greatest difference between the two techniques in the real-life conditions will be the ready availability of and easy access to the deck lines and toggles for both the rescuer and the paddler being rescued. The cardinal safety rule, a sea kayaking Commandment of sorts, is to hold on to one's boat and paddle after a wet exit. 'Exactly how critical is that?' you may ask. Consider this: two of Chicago's elite sea kayaking coaches got married so they could merge their last names—all just to emphasize the point for you the paddlers! The dynamic duo is known as 'BPs' and the acronym stands for "Hold on to Boat and Paddle Stupid!" Noticed the missing letter for 'Hold?' So did they... Took a while but their firstborn promptly got a name that starts with 'H.' So now you have no excuse!
In case the acronym is not enough to drive the point home, remember that your boat and paddle are your tickets home after a capsize (not to mention the $). You want to get out of the water as fast as possible and you'll need a paddle to get out of trouble once you're back in the cockpit. In the pool we got away without doing these things. In the pool you don't really need to worry about holding on to things because there is no wind, no waves, and no current will wrestle with you for possession. Neither your kayak nor your paddle will go anywhere if you let them go in the pool. Out in the open, though, you don't need even 10 knots of wind to promptly separate you from your ride home. No matter how good of a swimmer you think you are, you have to face the reality: the wind is faster. And what about the paddle? It does not take long to permanently lose sight of it once you let go. The paddle will not drift but you will.
Just in case you're thinking like this: it is decidedly not OK to practice your rescues in calm water without special emphasis to contact with the boat and paddle. True, you don't need to worry about that in calm conditions without current. However, the purpose of practice is not the success in a particular scenario. It is to build the rescue motions into your muscle memory and to solidify them as habits or reflexes in your cortex. If you capsize on a cold stormy day in conditions that are testing your limits as a paddler, you will not be thinking "Well, this is not a scenario, not the calm warm water in which I practiced my recoveries. Think I better hold on to the boat and paddle!" No, you will reach for the instinctual and the habitual. And HBPS better be the top contender to direct your actions!
Some argue that an upside-down boat does not drift as fast with the wind as the uprighted one. Point taken! I would argue, however, that the sense of security associated with this slower drift is both false and potentially dangerous. Conditions are not hard to come by which will take away from you even the upside-down boat. The damage that counting on slower drift will do to your HBPS habit is just not worth the risk. I don't know if I want to test the strength of wind that will push my kayak away from me faster than I can swim.
So the bottom line is this: when the boat is upside down, the deck lines and toggles are submerged, out of sight, harder to grab and hold on to. A paddler who has capsized needs to travel to the bow of the capsized kayak. It would be awkward and slower to do that while holding on to the deck lines under water. Maintaining contact with the boat on the slippery hull is asking for trouble.
Contact with the upturned boat was not really an issue in the pool. In living water, with boats being tossed around, banged together and pulled apart, joggled up and down, I would not count on being able to retain this contact with the smooth bottom of another kayak. Keel at the bow provides something to hold on to but the grip is not definite. Here, deck lines and toggles offer a distinct advantage—both realistically and as a matter of psychological security. The ability to hold on to the lines with the outboard hand will also all but eliminate the possibility of the rescuer capsizing backwards I discussed in the part II.
Finally, I think there's also a psychological benefit to having paddlers in the water upright their craft. Capsize is always accompanied by a certain amount of anxiety. Anxiety, in turn, is to a large extent a factor of the unknown and shaky self-efficacy. Having an engrained protocol of 'HBPS, upright the boat, HBPS, swim to the bow, HBPS' offers the person in the water a degree of familiarity as well as control over the situation. In the absence of these outlets—specific actions one can do in the situation—and combined with heightened arousal the swimmer is more likely to either freak out or do something counter-productive. The ritual is a sort of lightning rod that will channel the energy produced by excess adrenaline in the blood stream.
So, in conclusion, which one of the two Ts will I advocate and teach? I think both!
On flat water upside-down T-rescue is marginally more efficient. In rough conditions upright T-rescue is much safer. Why would I teach the upside-down variety, then, given all that I just said about forming good habits, etc. In real life, when conditions are calm, there just is no need to insist on uprighting the boat if the person in the water is either not familiar with the protocol or if they start arguing with you that the upside down method is the way to go. If the situation is at all emotional, there is no learning going on and, in that situation, you just want to get the person out of the water and back into their boat quick. For this reason, I think it is a good idea to have the upside-down T-rescue in your toolkit. It also gives you something to do in the pool!
If conditions are less than perfect, in a real-life rescue situation with wind or current I will insist that they flip their boat up and HBPS to the best of my ability!
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Criterion |
Upright |
Upside-Down |
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Speed |
Faster if rescuer has trouble breaking the cockpit seal, pulling the kayak onto the cockpit, or boat is heavy; people with short hands have trouble flipping the boat back to upside-down position |
Faster with empty boat and good proficiency—between 5 and 10 seconds for testers competent with upright technique |
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Physical Strain |
Boat is easier to lift out of the water and slide over the cockpit (assuming overhang at the bow and deck lines); no need to worry about breaking the cockpit seal |
Easier to drain once boat is over the cockpit; the difference in the ease of lifting the boat out of the water was MUCH smaller than expected—negligible in the pool and with empty boats; can 'scoop up' the bow by submerging the cockpit rim and edging away, avoid strain on upper body; swimmer can assist by pushing bow up—more effectively |
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Maneuverability and Control |
More definite contact with capsized kayak due to access to deck lines and end toggles |
No difficulty moving from parallel to perpendicular and vice versa in calm conditions; maintaining contact with the boat would be compromised in rough conditions |
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Safety—rescuer |
More definite hold of the boat due to exposed deck lines and end toggles; can catch oneself if capsizing away from the boat; less likely to lose contact in rough conditions |
Surprisingly good control of the capsized boat on calm water—keel-line provides positive grasp; chances of capsizing on opposite of the boat being rescued no higher |
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Safety—rescued |
More definite contact with the boat due to exposed and accessible deck lines and end-toggles; less likely to separate from the boat when moving to the bow while waiting for rescue |
Marginally slower drift speed (may encourage a false sense of safety and lead to separation from the boat); less time in the water |
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Psychological |
Encourages best practices of maintaining contact with the boat; gives the paddler in the water something to do while waiting for the rescuer to arrive |
Satisfaction of saving some time and effort |
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