Arkansas Canoe Club Forums

I'd like to assemble a list of boat-based rescue tips, both for the rescuer and the rescuee. Please add your expertise, I'd love to learn. Thank you!

1. If you are attempting to rescue a boat in fast current, grab the boat and give it a really strong shove and try to send it on a ferry angle toward shore/eddy. Changing its momentum and direction with the shove is very helpful.

2. Plowing the boat to shore/eddy: the rescuer should maintain the capsized boats' ferry angle. Try to push the boat from its pivot point or slightly upstream of the pivot point. If the boat is plowed from further down it's downstream end, the ferry angle will be lost, making the boat rescue much more difficult.

3. If the rescuee is going to hold onto the back of a kayak and be towed to shore by the rescuer, the rescuee should get as high up on the back of the kayaker's boat as possible. This causes balance issues for the rescuer, but if practiced, is the easier method verses having the rescuee dangling way off the boat.


What else?

Plowing the boat to shore, also called 'bulldogging', is often done by a single boater, but can sometimes be done even more effectively with two boaters. In the times I've worked with someone else to do this, it can be much easier to maintain the ferry angle on the boat you're working on, and if one or the other boaters needs to reposition a bit, the other boaters actions usually give that needed time.

Best Regards
Jim

All very good advice! I would like to add to be vocal and communicate with the person or persons swimming. But try not to have too many people shouting different directions at them. And the number one rule don't make any more victims. Always stay concious of your suroundings. Focus on yourself and your group fist then work on getting people out of the river and then equipment.

Terry D

I think it is important to remember what State you're paddling in, what river you're on, and who you are paddling with.

On faster or "big water" Western rivers, it is often recommended to have the paddler hold on to the boat for extra floation, and/or because if you let go of it you may never see it again. This is also the kind of water where I might use a bull-dozing technique if boat and paddler are separated, or tow the paddler to shore with them kicking to help but still holding on to their boat. I don't really want to be hooked up to another boat with a tow tether in serious WW.

On typical Arkansas "pool drop" rivers, with inexperienced boaters, I can get the boat to shore a lot faster if the owner will just let go and get out of the way. The boater is also less likely to take a beating in the next drop if they just get to shore quickly. I'm also more likely to make it easy on myself and hook on a tow tether if the only hazards ahead are Class 1 or II.

Experienced boaters are going to have a plan of their own; see what type of assistance they want - it may be just taking their paddle or chasing one loose item so they can focus on swimming their boat to shore. If you have inexperienced boaters along, it helps if you've thought about the river and told them what you're going to want them to do even before you launch. In the excitement of an upset, they may not hear, understand, or properly respond to your shouted instructions, especially if those instructions are different than what someone has told them they should do in the past.

Another pre-trip item: If you have someone on your trip that you suspect might take a swim, make sure they've got some floation. I've seen a lot of rescues be more difficult than they needed to be because of kayaks with zero floation.

Bull-dozing was the term I was looking for

Best Regards
Jim

If the owner of the boat had no floatation in it, they clearly didn't want it back. In that case the best thing to do is sink it out of the way of other paddlers.

Shep

One thing i dont see here if the boat has flotation and you have the time before nest rapid or danger you can pull the bow of said boat up onto your bow to get a lot of that water out then flip it making it easier to handle but this does take a little extra balence on your part

Over the years I have been rescued a bunch and been able to help others a bunch. To add a bit to Terry D's comment on communication, here is a personal story.

One thing that has helped me a lot during my swims is some one yelling out which way to swim.

Several of my most remembered swims happened in turbulent water with even worse spots down stream. Exiting from a kayak most of us are disoriented. I will always remember one swim on the ARK in CO where I came out of the kayak with no idea where I was in relation to safety. My paddle bud TJ Hittle yelled several times "Dave swim right NOW". I did and hit a micro eddy on shore in time to see my boat pin big time where I would have been had TJ not given me a lot of loud and multiple encouragement.

Bottom line: Always tell the swimmer which way to swim whether you are close enough to do a boat rescue or not.