Rescues without a Life Vest.

My new friends Bob and Rachel were playing with their boat and paddle float while I was swimming.  I thought it had been a while since I have done a paddle float re-entry so I asked to try it with their Tsunami.  Today I learned a valuable lesson I want to share.  Don't practice re entries without your life vest!  I did and boy did I get some interesting bruises on my chest. Even when the water is very warm and you are just playing on the beach I recommend the life vest.

This picture was taken by Rufus who helped out all weekend and got a lot of great shots.

Another thing I noticed was that the paddle float entry is slower than the cowboy reentry event when there are boat wakes.  The deck on the Tsunami is quite high compared to most kayaks but I was able to swim up directly over the cockpit area for a faster re entry. Keys to making it easy to swim across the boat that work for me are:  

1) One elbow pressing against the close side of the cockpit

2) Other hand pulling across from the far side of the cockpit.

3) Kick with your feet until you hear them splashing the surface before you pull across.

4) Then swivel to kiss the front deck with your legs straight out into the water like outriggers.

This usually works well for me, but I am still working on it. In my favorite boat I tip over to the far side when I swivel about one time in five.