Come on aboardAt practice yesterday evening we did a bunch of self and assisted rescues. There are numerous versions of the T-rescue. The most quoted one is where the swimmer goes to the back of the boat while the rescuer takes the overturned boat onto their combing to dump out the water. Last night Sean and Dean did a variation of the T-rescue that gets the swimmer out of the water.
In this variation Dean gets himself on Sean's deck as they then both work to dump water out of the overturned kayak. The emptied kayak was then put back in the water and Dean moved over into the cockpit of his own boat.
There are a few benefits to this variation. If the water is particularly cold (or heaven forbid the swimmer isn't appropriately dressed) it gets the swimmer out of the cold immediately. The rescuer can also keep a close eye on the swimmer. Furthermore, the swimmer's mind is diverted away from the shock of getting wet and is focused the action of the rescue.
There is a drawback. The front deck of a kayak is higher than the rear deck and will be harder to scramble up onto.
Rescues are not one-size-fits-all. Each one has its place and each one should be practiced.
Judging by the amount of laughing we were doing during this exercise, I think Dean was more intent on trying to sink my boat!! My boat has pretty low volume as witnessed by how it's almost submerged in this picture.
ReplyDeleteLast night was fun. Sometimes, as the quotation from The Wind in Willows goes - it's fun "simply messing about in boats"
Sean, I don't know its because your boat is low volume or if its because Dean is a hefty dude *lol*
ReplyDeleteAt times it seemed to lack seriousness but I think it went well. Unfortunately with my ruptured wrist gasket I was limited to doing a few rolls.
Tony :-)
I'll let Dean answer that one!!
ReplyDeleteIt actually did work out well and it's nice to know that you can improvise as required.
What are you going to do about the gasket? Should be a simple replacement and I suggest doing it yourself so that you can get the experience. You know it's going to happen again so you might as well learn how to do it yourself!!