# How to self rescue a Sit In Kayak



## punisher338 (May 12, 2008)

Just wondering what are some of the methods you use to self rescue if your sit in kayak over turns and is full of water?


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## Capt. Redbeard (May 19, 2010)

Im interested in this as well, I flipped one in 25' ft of water and 97% of the kayak was 
under water.. impossible!! got lucky as a boater spotted me and helped..


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## bbarton13 (May 4, 2009)

dont let water get into it! amke sure its a sit on top! i flipped my pro angler fully rigged in 10 feet off water in the surf and i just grab the other side and flipped it, it was pretty easy, thank god for homemade rod leashes


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## beeritself (Nov 25, 2010)

In deep water I would imagine that it's next to impossible to self rescue. On Friday night a few of us were out at Chickenbone beach on the gulf side and sunk my kayak in about 4.5 feet of water. It took 3 of us to get it out. It's a lot faster to get the water in then to get it out.


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## Capt. Redbeard (May 19, 2010)

Some very good comments, but its safe to say, if your in over 6'ft of water its impossible!!! If you are in 6'ft or less drag it to shore... Always make sure you have
a PFD!!!


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## Jhoe (May 4, 2009)

this is why I wouldn't even consider a Sit-In kayak for this environment. not without atleast putting outriggers on it.


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## jim t (Sep 30, 2007)

Aren't there blow up bladders to stuff in the bow and stern to help keep from sinking? When I first learned to kayak I took a course and that's what we did. Then we had a "paddle float" that you put on one end of a paddle, then wedge the other end of the paddle under bungee cords aft and hiked one foot up on the paddle and wriggled in. It wasn't pretty, but it worked.






Jim


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## Yaksquatch (Mar 23, 2009)

I have a bunch of pool noodles in the inside of my kayak even though it's a sit-on-top with scuppers to self-drain. Just in case my hull is punctured in some way, the pool noodles will keep it just under the surface.

If no puncture, then self-rescue is NOT IMPOSSIBLE in deep water where you cannot touch bottom. Do it a few times with your yak completely stripped of all but essentials.

If you are in the water next to your yak that's upside down. Start by kicking your legs to lift your body enough out of the water to reach across to the far side. Now pull back hard using your body weight to right the kayak.

The next part is called: Belly, butt, legs. Again kick with your legs and reach your body across your yak, slowly pulling yourself forward and the yak under you till you're laying on your belly, or more importantly center-of-gravity, width-wise across the seat of your yak. Then roll over onto your back still keeping your center-of-grav over the kayak seat. Now you can sit up into a 'side-saddle' position on the yak. Lastly is to pivot in the seat and bring each leg into the kayak one at a time.

DO NOT RUSH any of the steps, if you need to pause and catch your breath between each step, all the better.

Josh (AKA JDHKingfisher) made a vid of flipping and righting himself in his pool a while back. He'll probably post it when he sees this thread.

Alex


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## Capt. Redbeard (May 19, 2010)

hey Alex, are you talking about a sit-in?? Righting a sit-on isn't the question.. how do you right a sit-in <-- when you are to deep to touch bottom??? I like the idea of putting an inflatable PFD or something but in the situation I was in I would have needed about three or four. The Pelican 100 Getaway I was in was almost vertical in
the water, I could get it to roll right side up but had no way to get the front end up
to bail, had no way to get leverage. Even with a friend in an 15'ft OK Trident we just
couldnt get the front in high enough..


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## Framerguy (Oct 2, 2007)

That paddle float is a pretty neat idea, I have paddled much longer in a SIK style kayak, probably 40 years or more, than a SOT kayak which I was introduced to about 10 years ago when I first moved to Florida. With that said, we always used a skirt whenever we ventured into deep water or rapids so that, if we flipped, we didn't usually exit the kayak at all but used the Eskimo Roll maneuver to right ourselves and get back on track. If you flip and fill your sit in kayak with water, it's almost impossible to clear it unless you carry some kind of bilge pump or siphon hose with you. Most of you young guys wouldn't know about siphoning gas with a short length of garden hose but it is about the same technique. Remember, I am talking about an emergency situation that isn't usually encountered unless you are not using a splash skirt. (which, in my opinion, is a dumb move to start with in a SIK type kayak!) 

Pool noodles or some kind of air bladder in the bow and stern of both kinds of kayaks is a sensible insurance to help keep it afloat in case something drastic happens like the encounter with the idiot in the para-sail towboat. 

But first of all, you need to get back into the kayak _before_ you start trying to remove the water!! Otherwise, you will be bailing your kayak twice after you finally get yourself back into the craft. When we packed back into the lakes in the Quetico wilderness area with our kayaks, we always carried a couple of large black trash bags for emergency use or to pack out any trash that we accumulated or found at the campsites we used. (My rule was always leave a campsite cleaner than you found it.)

Long before paddle floats, we had a procedure for getting back in the kayak that was similar. We would inflate a heavy gauge black plastic trash bag by either blowing into it, tough when you are already out of breath from dumping and your adrenalin is pumping, or by taking the open end and "flopping" it down on the surface of the water a few times to trap as much air as possible inside. Then we tied it shut and lashed it onto one end of the paddle as done with the newer bladder. It doesn't take that much floatation to give you enough leverage to get yourself centered across the cockpit if you keep your center weight as low as possible. In other words, _scoot_ your body over the gunwales instead of trying to _raise up_ in the air and pushing yourself onto the top of the kayak. 

I have said this before on the forum, I would not ever try a surf launch in a SIK kayak for any reason! It may be calm as glass when you go out but who's to say a storm won't blow up and make it impossible to get back in without wiping out in the surf and possibly hurting yourself or losing valuable gear not to mention maybe destroying your kayak in that rough surf. And that is assuming that you can make it back in toward shore without being swamped by 3' higher waves out there! 

Who knows what may happen when you take any kind of risks without thinking ahead? I haven't survived over 50 years of kayaking with no major injuries by ignoring safety and not using my head in an emergency. I have become a major believer in the SOT kayak for use down here!! They are the only way to go in my opinion and are cheaper than most good quality SIK type kayaks also!


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## Framerguy (Oct 2, 2007)

*"Pool noodles or some kind of air bladder in the bow and stern of both kinds of kayaks is a sensible insurance to help keep it afloat in case something drastic happens"
*
Capt. Redbeard, this may be something you want to consider next time you venture out into deep water. With floatation in the front and rear of your SIK, you most likely won't have the vertical problem you encountered as the kayak fills with water on the rollover. Your kayak would have probably sunk to the bottom if it hadn't trapped some air in the stern of the boat which kept it afloat but had so much water weight holding it vertical that you needed a crane to get it back in a horizontal position again!! Trust me, I have made some awful mistakes in my life learning the right and the safe way to outfit and handle a kayak!! Being an "expert" by experience isn't the best reputation one can have but sometimes experience can be the best teacher ............... if you live to take advantage of the lesson.


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## jim t (Sep 30, 2007)

Jim


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## TURTLE (May 22, 2008)

*I used the noodles and they keep it afloat while you get back in but you do need to bildge out the water afterwards.*


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## WW2 (Sep 28, 2007)

If you can get it upright, why not bilge it before you attempt to get in?


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## Yaksquatch (Mar 23, 2009)

Capt. Redbeard said:


> hey Alex, are you talking about a sit-in?? Righting a sit-on isn't the question.. how do you right a sit-in <-- when you are to deep to touch bottom??? I like the idea of putting an inflatable PFD or something but in the situation I was in I would have needed about three or four. The Pelican 100 Getaway I was in was almost vertical in
> the water, I could get it to roll right side up but had no way to get the front end up
> to bail, had no way to get leverage. Even with a friend in an 15'ft OK Trident we just
> couldnt get the front in high enough..


OOPS! My apologies, I missed the part about 'sit in' in the original post. That's what I get for replying after having been up working for 30hours straight...

In a quality sit-in kayak it's still doable, especially if you've got some sort of floatation in the bow and stern. A lot of manufacturers (apparently not Pelican) install foam blocks at each end while the kayak's are still at the factory.

Most of ya'll already know how I feel about Pelicans, so I'll stop there...

Alex


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## punisher338 (May 12, 2008)

Ive got an Asend A10 and I am going to buy a manual bilge pump to keep in it but I thought about adding some more floatation to it with pool noodles or something to that effect. Thanks for all the input:thumbup:


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## Framerguy (Oct 2, 2007)

WW2 said:


> If you can get it upright, why not bilge it before you attempt to get in?


There's a couple of "if's" involved along with the one you mentioned WW2, to answer your question as asked, there's nothing wrong with bilging out the kayak before re-entering ....... if you have done this procedure and are comfortable with your balance and keeping your weight fairly low on the deck when re-entering. And different folks have different methods of entering the cockpit after a capsize. All it takes is some precautionary practice.

Problem is most kayakers _read_ about the safety aspects of various problems encountered out on the water but they don't take the time to do a little bit of practice before it is really needed! It's sort of like a young kid watching a video on driving but never actually getting any practice behind the wheel in _real _traffic with _real _nut jobs trying to cut in or jump from one lane to another until the driving test day!! All of a sudden, he finds out that it isn't quite as simple as it appeared on the video when all it would have taken was a little bit of real world practice behind the wheel before test day. 

('Course, today there are probably more 12 yr. olds driving than back in my day so maybe I am simply showing my age and "real world" knowledge of how it is today!) :wheelchair:


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## Linda (Oct 2, 2007)

I will say it's amazing what you can do when adrenaline kicks in....


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## Robin (Mar 22, 2011)

Beach balls work good,too.


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## Capt. Redbeard (May 19, 2010)

Linda said:


> I will say it's amazing what you can do when adrenaline kicks in....




Its funny, after a few tries, I just laid up on the yak to keep my bloody ankle 
out of the water, and laughed my butt off.. The guys in the boat who helped
me out wasnt sure that I even needed help b/c I was laughing so hard..


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