What to do if you capsize a kayak: wet exit, getting back in and assisted rescues

TUREFF• •0

Every kayaker capsizes eventually, and that is fine. What matters is knowing what to do so it stays a minor inconvenience. The best place to learn is a pool session or a calm, warm, shallow spot with a qualified coach watching. This guide gives you the outline so you know what to expect.

First: stay calm and hold on

If you go in unexpectedly, your first job is your breathing. In cold water the gasp and fast breathing of cold water shock can take a minute or so to settle. Let your buoyancy aid hold you up, lean back and get your breath back before doing anything else. Then:

Keep hold of your boat and paddle if you can. The kayak is a big floating object that rescuers can see, and it is your way home.
Get upwind of the boat if there is a breeze, so it does not blow onto you and away from you.
Call for help if you cannot get back in, using a phone or whistle carried on your body.

Sit-on-top kayaks: climbing back on

Sit-on-tops are the easiest to recover.

If it has flipped, reach across the hull, grab the far edge or a handle, and pull it towards you to turn it upright.
Go to the side, near the seat.
Kick your legs up to the surface behind you so your body is horizontal.
Pull yourself across the boat on your stomach, keeping your weight low.
Twist round so you are sitting, then swing your legs in, one at a time.

Keep your weight low and in the middle throughout; trying to kneel or stand up too soon tips it straight back over.

Sit-inside kayaks: the wet exit

In a sit-inside kayak, a capsize leaves you upside down in the cockpit. The wet exit is the skill of getting out calmly, and it is the first thing a coach will teach.

Stay tucked forward, close to the deck. This protects your face and makes it easier to reach the front of the cockpit.
If you are wearing a spray deck, find the grab loop at the front and pull it forwards and up to release the deck. Always check the loop is on the outside before you launch.
Put your hands on the sides of the cockpit by your hips and push the boat away, as if taking off a pair of trousers, rolling forward out of the boat.
Surface, breathe, and keep hold of the boat and paddle.

Practising this in a pool with someone standing next to you takes away the fear quickly.

Getting back into a sit-inside kayak

Re-entering a sit-inside kayak alone in deep water is genuinely difficult, and there are several techniques, such as a re-entry using a paddle float or a scramble back in. They need practice under instruction to work when you are cold and tired. Until you have that practice, plan your trips so that help or a shore is close. The boat will also usually be full of water. Kayaks with sealed bulkheads or buoyancy bags hold less; an open recreational kayak without them can be very hard to empty in deep water. Buoyancy in both ends of the boat is worth having.

Assisted rescues

When you paddle with others, a capsized paddler can be helped back in by another kayaker. In general terms:

The rescuer comes alongside and takes control of the capsized boat, often emptying it by lifting one end across their own deck.
The boats are then held side by side, pointing in opposite directions, so the rescuer can stabilise the empty one.
The swimmer climbs back in, keeping low, while the rescuer leans across and holds the cockpit steady.
The swimmer reattaches the spray deck and checks they are ready before the rescuer lets go.

There are several variations, and they are easy to learn and hard to work out on the spot. It is one of the best reasons to join a club or take a course.

Practise before you need it

Learn and practise the wet exit with a coach.
Practise getting back onto or into your own boat in warm, shallow water.
Practise assisted rescues with the people you paddle with.
Wear clothing that lets you spend time in the water: a wetsuit or drysuit in cold conditions.

Have you practised a capsize yet, or got a tip that made rescues easier? Tell us in the comments.