I don't understand how such a simple T rescue has become so complicated and strenuous. I recently completed a BCU Safety course and watched a diminitive women (5'3' tall) drain an over turned kayak without lifting it off her deck. She simply slid it up onto the rescue patch in front of her cockpit and spun the boat. The water drained out without her having to lift the kayak. Lifting a loaded, and cockpit flooded, kayak in rough water risks dropping it on your combing and breaking something or worse dropping it on your arm or head. Standard BCU T rescue technic as taught to me follows.
1. The swimmer rights the kayak - so that she can hang on to the deck lines. In rough water you'll never hang on to an over turned kayak.
2. The swimmer goes to the bow of the upturned kayak and once the rescuer has the swimmers kayak the swimmer is told to go to the bow or the stern of the rescuers boat - which ever is closer. The swimmer never goes to the stern of her boat, especially if it has a rudder. Rudder cables and blades can inflict serious damage to hands in rough sea conditions.
3. The rescue slides the kayak up onto the rescue patch and spins the boat thus draining the cockpit.
4. The rescuer then brings the boats bow to stern.
5. The swimmer reenters the boat either by swimming up onto the back deck and spins toward the rescuer and into the empty cockpit.
Total rescue time should be one minute. The swimmer can also use a hook rescue to reenter in even less time.
mike
23-Aug-2005 15:48
This is a very interesting photo.It shows people doing things that put themselves and others at unessesary risk. There is no advantage from lifting The boat's bow clear out of the water to drain it. Why is the swimmer clinging precariously from the stern of an upturned boat? The behaviours in this photo may give people the mistaken impression that this is a safe and efficient way to rehearse assisted recouveries.
