# Deepwater re-entry - two-up



## Barrabundy (Sep 29, 2008)

If you take passengers on your kayak practice a deepwater re-entry. I did just that with my son this morning and it was very worthwhile. It turns out my body isn't as finely tuned as my mind remembers it.


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## kayakone (Dec 7, 2010)

Do you mean 50 cms; 60 cms; 80 cms, + ?

Define deepwater please

Trevor.


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## Barrabundy (Sep 29, 2008)

Deep enough that you can't touch the bottom.....it's easy to right a kayak and get back in when you can touch the bottom.


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## Barrabundy (Sep 29, 2008)

I should elaborate a little on today's exercise.

I decided to just tip myself out without going through it in my head first, it's not like you get a chance to do that in an emergency anyway. I had forgotten the effect of a sudden dunk in cold water and I'd have to admit it took my breath away and I found myself struggling initially when I couldn't just flip the kayak over the way I'd expected. I've come out in the surf before and I was back in within 10secs flat but this time was different. I had to make a conscious effort to just stop and think it through, I had to reach over the top of the upturned hull, to grab the other side and use my weight to roll it back over towards me. The few failed attempts took it out of me more than I expected although getting in was a piece of cake.

After getting back to the bank of the lagoon I thought I should try it with my eldest son as he sometimes accompanies me on outings. I talked him through what I thought would be a good plan, him to make sure he wasn't tangled in lines before waiting for me to right the hull. He was to be the first back in and I would follow. Not sure if this was the right thing to do or not but figured in an emergency I'd rather have a child back onboard first and then I could worry about myself later. We found it was handy for us to be on opposite sides when he was trying to get back in because he couldn't reach across to the far side to pull himself in and my weight helped prevent the kayak from tipping over towards him as he tried to climb in.

We both thought it was a worthwhile exercise and it highlighted to me the fact that it is something that should be done regularly. Like others have said before, practice getting back in to your kayak because you don't want to find out in an emergency that you can't do it!


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## Brc226 (Jul 31, 2009)

Excellent post and a timely reminder.

I have been meaning to do this exact exercise for some time now. Both my son and I have Viking Tempo's and although we have practiced getting back into the kayak from the water, we have never tried tipping the kayaks over and getting back in. I recon that the righting the tempo would be a challenge.

On one particular occasion last summer my son and I were unfortunate enough to be in the wrong place at the right time. The issue was heavy boat traffic in all directions on a narrow section of a river which only lasted a minute or so but being caught up in the slop left behind by the boats brought home the importance of developing and practicing these sorts of skills. BTW, in this instance, no one was misbehaving at all, it was simply an issue of being caught in the wrong place at the right time.

It did though bring home the need to develop these sorts of skills.


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## Barrabundy (Sep 29, 2008)

I should add that I was surprised at how much water had gotten into the hull during these deliberate capsizings. There was no risk of sinking but in a real-life situation offshore you would want to keep that fact in the back of your mind depending on what kayak you had. You definitely wouldn't want to be bobbing around having a snack and taking a few photos for a trip report before deciding it was time to tip it back over and get in.


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## Guest (Aug 13, 2011)

Barrabundy said:


> I should add that I was surprised at how much water had gotten into the hull during these deliberate capsizings. There was no risk of sinking but in a real-life situation offshore you would want to keep that fact in the back of your mind depending on what kayak you had. You definitely wouldn't want to be bobbing around having a snack and taking a few photos for a trip report before deciding it was time to tip it back over and get in.


This is an extremely important comment!
SOT yaks are not watertight, and technically speaking, they're not even self bailing. The scuppers drain water from the deck, not from the hull.
Worst of all, if the SOT hull is leaking, it's hard to detect the water coming in on time.


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