# righting my outfitter



## syddie (Dec 3, 2007)

Did some testing in the pool the other day with deep water entries and trying to right the yak. Found it impossible to right my outfitter in the water by hand. Here is a bit of gear (rope) I knocked up to assist in righting the yak. Makes the job very easy.


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## syddie (Dec 3, 2007)

continuing...


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## Cuda (Sep 18, 2006)

Looks like a good system for outfitter owners Syddie  When I got tipped over in my Adventure a while back, I found that I couldn't right the yak from the side, so I went around to the front end, lifted the yak as far out of the water as I could and then then just twisted it over. As most of the gunwhales were out of the water there was a lot less water resistance if you get my drift, so perhaps you could try that method in the pool too ;-)


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## syddie (Dec 3, 2007)

Tried that cuda. Ok if you can stand but not in deep water. I tried almost everything.

Ken


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## noeskimo (Oct 20, 2008)

excellent idea syddie..

i'll be sure to include your system on both my yaks....

cheers.

.


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## YakCult (Nov 4, 2008)

Well thought out, Ken.
Your idea may well save someone a lot of grief!!


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## Revo (Aug 3, 2008)

Syddie ... the rope is a nice idea. Great that you're getting such a drill sorted before a situation happens! 

Unless the rope is in your hand when the yak capsizes, it seems that you could be spending a lot of time in the water getting the rope organised ready to right the yak.  Have you tried this:

1. With yak capsized, haul your body up out of the water across the mid section of the yak. An advantage of this as a first action is to get your body out of the water (in case of the presence of biteys, stingers, etc). If necessary you could hang on here for a while until you're ready for the next step.

2. With your body across the yak, reach under the water for the edge (or the side grip where your rope is). Hang on while sliding back into the water and the yak should roll over with you and right itself.

3. Haul your body up out of the water across the seat area of the (now righted) yak to regain your rightful position!

Perhaps you've already tried this and yet doesn't work for you. Nothing wrong with your rope solution (a previous post on this site shared the idea of using a rope with a loop as a foothold to help get up onto the yak) but I reckon that unless the rope is on your hand when you capsize, it might be a longer process to recover the situation.

Good on ya for focusing on this safety drill ...


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## PAINKILLER (Oct 20, 2008)

hi there Syddie,
If you lay your rope when your yak is up the correct way from the side it is attatched across the other side can the rope be used more as a ladder without rolling the yak again.
the rope would now be shorter and might help people who dont have upper body strength ie heavier people and children to almost get into there yak specially in choppy conditions.
Great idea


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