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catsittingstill) wrote2009-06-13 09:12 am
catsittingstill) wrote2009-06-13 09:12 am
Canoe Over Canoe Rescue
If your canoe capsizes, and you have a friend, or friends, in a canoe nearby, it is possible for them to empty the water out of your canoe and help you get back in. It's called "canoe over canoe rescue" and some canoe books swear by it, and some say that in conditions where you're likely to capsize the water will probably be too rough for you to use this technique and you should just swim the canoe to shore.
At any rate, I thought it would be good if those of us going on the canoe trip in August knew how to do this and had done it a few times. So since Dad and Jake are visiting right now, we took yesterday's relatively warm and un-stormy morning to go jump in the lake. On purpose. Repeatedly.
I only had the two solo canoes for this session (one, Gussie, kindly loaned to me by my friend K* for this purpose) but I figured that s enough to learn the technique and get a little practice in. Kip and I went first, me, so I could show the others how to do it, and Kip because he wanted to get it over with early and go home. He's not a real playing-in-the-water kind of guy.
Kip tipped Gussie, and we maneuvered until Gussie (upside down) was tip-to-middle with Patience (right side up) so the two canoes made a T. Then I leaned (wobblily) over and grabbed Gussie's nose, tipped her slightly to break the suction, and lifted her slowly, to let the water take its own time draining out, until I had Gussie's nose on Patience's gunwale, slightly in front of me. Then I just slid Gussie hand to hand from left to right across the left gunwale, until I had her, still upside down, crossing Patience like a +. Then I, with a certain amount of wobbling, rolled her over on the gunwales so she was rightside up, and slid her gently right-to-left back into the water.
Then the hard part. We maneuvered the two canoes parallel to each other, and I pushed down on Gussie's right gunwale, while Kip struggled to slither in over her left gunwale. It took several tries and some splashing, but he got in successfully. At which point we realized we'd forgotten about his paddle, which had floated back to the boat ramp without us.
I was paddling over to go get it when my brother came striding along the bank towards us, roaring theatrically "damn you, Kip, damn you!" It turned out that during the splashing and slithering part of our adventure, he had bet Dad five dollars that we would both end up in the drink.
We took turns in most possible configurations, me capsizing Patience (in my opinion the most likely scenario in real life) and Kip helping me, Dad capsizing Patience and Jake helping Dad, Jake capsizing Gussie and Dad helping Jake (at which point they did indeed wind up with both of them capsized amid much suppressed laughter on the bank) and then I took Jake out and demonstrated that you can do canoe-over-canoe rescue with both canoes capsized. Just lift one gunwale of the canoe-to-be-underneath for a moment, to capture as much air under it as possible, then, working from the water, slide the other upside down canoe on top of it in a +. When both ends of the top canoe are clear of the water and water has stopped pouring out, roll it right side up, and slide it into the water. Then have the heavier person steady it from the water while the lighter person slithers in. Then do a standard canoe-over-canoe rescue of the canoe that is still upside down. Then, if the lighter person is in the wrong canoe, have her transfer while the heavier person, still in the water, steadies the receiving canoe (this actually was much easier than I expected). Then the lighter person steadies the canoe she just left for the heavier person to slither in.
Notes: the life jackets make life in the water mostly much easier, but tend to hang up on the gunwale while slithering. We actually had better luck if we removed the life jackets just before the slither phase and then re-donned them in the canoe. Though I did manage to get into the canoe with my life jacket on at least once.
We also had my big hiking backpack that used to be my mom's, which I had packed with dirty clothes, wrapped in 2 heavy duty plastic bags the way the canoe books described. Toward the end of our adventures we chucked this in the water. It floated quite high (it will probably not float as well when it has a camp stove and dishes in it, but most things are lighter than water if you seal the air they contain in with them). Plus, we spent enough time messing around that we probably left it in the lake for 20 minutes, and when I unpacked it at home, everything was dry. So that method works also.
Man, I'm tired. And hungry. I'm glad we tried this with a nice warm lake, less than a mile from home, hot showers and dry clothes.
But it was a lot of fun, and Dad and Jake both thought it was a really good idea to try this under friendly conditions before maybe having to do it for real. I don't know that Kip was as approving, but he humors me gracefully..
At any rate, I thought it would be good if those of us going on the canoe trip in August knew how to do this and had done it a few times. So since Dad and Jake are visiting right now, we took yesterday's relatively warm and un-stormy morning to go jump in the lake. On purpose. Repeatedly.
I only had the two solo canoes for this session (one, Gussie, kindly loaned to me by my friend K* for this purpose) but I figured that s enough to learn the technique and get a little practice in. Kip and I went first, me, so I could show the others how to do it, and Kip because he wanted to get it over with early and go home. He's not a real playing-in-the-water kind of guy.
Kip tipped Gussie, and we maneuvered until Gussie (upside down) was tip-to-middle with Patience (right side up) so the two canoes made a T. Then I leaned (wobblily) over and grabbed Gussie's nose, tipped her slightly to break the suction, and lifted her slowly, to let the water take its own time draining out, until I had Gussie's nose on Patience's gunwale, slightly in front of me. Then I just slid Gussie hand to hand from left to right across the left gunwale, until I had her, still upside down, crossing Patience like a +. Then I, with a certain amount of wobbling, rolled her over on the gunwales so she was rightside up, and slid her gently right-to-left back into the water.
Then the hard part. We maneuvered the two canoes parallel to each other, and I pushed down on Gussie's right gunwale, while Kip struggled to slither in over her left gunwale. It took several tries and some splashing, but he got in successfully. At which point we realized we'd forgotten about his paddle, which had floated back to the boat ramp without us.
I was paddling over to go get it when my brother came striding along the bank towards us, roaring theatrically "damn you, Kip, damn you!" It turned out that during the splashing and slithering part of our adventure, he had bet Dad five dollars that we would both end up in the drink.
We took turns in most possible configurations, me capsizing Patience (in my opinion the most likely scenario in real life) and Kip helping me, Dad capsizing Patience and Jake helping Dad, Jake capsizing Gussie and Dad helping Jake (at which point they did indeed wind up with both of them capsized amid much suppressed laughter on the bank) and then I took Jake out and demonstrated that you can do canoe-over-canoe rescue with both canoes capsized. Just lift one gunwale of the canoe-to-be-underneath for a moment, to capture as much air under it as possible, then, working from the water, slide the other upside down canoe on top of it in a +. When both ends of the top canoe are clear of the water and water has stopped pouring out, roll it right side up, and slide it into the water. Then have the heavier person steady it from the water while the lighter person slithers in. Then do a standard canoe-over-canoe rescue of the canoe that is still upside down. Then, if the lighter person is in the wrong canoe, have her transfer while the heavier person, still in the water, steadies the receiving canoe (this actually was much easier than I expected). Then the lighter person steadies the canoe she just left for the heavier person to slither in.
Notes: the life jackets make life in the water mostly much easier, but tend to hang up on the gunwale while slithering. We actually had better luck if we removed the life jackets just before the slither phase and then re-donned them in the canoe. Though I did manage to get into the canoe with my life jacket on at least once.
We also had my big hiking backpack that used to be my mom's, which I had packed with dirty clothes, wrapped in 2 heavy duty plastic bags the way the canoe books described. Toward the end of our adventures we chucked this in the water. It floated quite high (it will probably not float as well when it has a camp stove and dishes in it, but most things are lighter than water if you seal the air they contain in with them). Plus, we spent enough time messing around that we probably left it in the lake for 20 minutes, and when I unpacked it at home, everything was dry. So that method works also.
Man, I'm tired. And hungry. I'm glad we tried this with a nice warm lake, less than a mile from home, hot showers and dry clothes.
But it was a lot of fun, and Dad and Jake both thought it was a really good idea to try this under friendly conditions before maybe having to do it for real. I don't know that Kip was as approving, but he humors me gracefully..
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(Glad you had fun. Practicing safety can often be a right b*****...)
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I loved kayaking, ocean kayaking, and enjoyed many an outing with my ex-husband. The one time I capsized my kayak I was ready to used B's kayak and paddle for stabilization. He paddled off as fast as he could so he would be safe...
Glad you can all work as a team!
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Where are you going on a canoe trip? I did a week long canoe trip with a boyfriend in the Boundary Waters years ago and really enjoyed it.
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Way to go, Kip and Cat!
Doesn't the saying go that an anticipated danger practiced for and prevented for doesn't happen? Knock on Patience's wood that this saying is true for you!