Capsize test of a Birder 2 (or: I meant to do that!)

[JeffM]

    Took Trevor and Stephen out into the cool, wind-whipped waters of Assonet Bay this afternoon for a little testing and crew training.  Assonet Bay is really just a wide bight (maybe two miles long by less than a mile wide) of the Assonet River, tributary to the mighty Taunton River.  It was too breezy to my taste to go sailing on open water, but nice for paddling more protected waters.  I cleverly concealed my plans from the boys, (knowing they'd insist on staying home rather than go swimming in mid-October), telling them instead that we'd spend a few hours exploring this very pretty and largely un-developed shoreline.  I had left the folding seats behind, and what gear we had was in dry bags.

    We paddled from the ramp under the highway and on out into more open water.  Only 20 minutes out, paddling into small waves and with a considerable breeze coming over the port bow, we capsized briskly to starboard.  Trevor, who had never floated in his pfd before (believe me, I've tried), came up sputtering and clawing at me.  Stephen was a little calmer.  We all got hold of the boat pretty quickly, and I rescued anything I could see floating within reach.  We were perhaps a quarter-mile from shore.  It took some effort from the boys to be calm enough not to overturn the boat again but they gradually mastered themselves.  With the boat nearly half-full of water, bailing took a long time; but finally we were ready to go back aboard.  Stephen, being lightest, went first, then he and I kept the boat steady while Trevor hoisted himself aboard.  The boys were in terror of capsizing again if I tried to get in, and I had little confidence I could manage it anyway, so Trevor began paddling the boat downwind, towing me behind.  Stephen was cold, and decided he had done his bit.  In only a few minutes my feet touched mud, and in a few minutes more we were in water shallow enough that I could get in without upsetting again.  I paddled us the rest of the way back to the ramp, and left the boys in the car to warm up while I strapped down the boat.  In all, we had probably been in the water perhaps 10 (in the case of the boys), or 20 minutes.

    On the way home, we took inventory of our losses and our gains.  Lost: a nice afternoon trip, one (loose) pfd, a paddle, and one shoe.  But the boys gained a little confidence in the water, a healthy fear of hypothermia, and the idea that capsizing is not the end of the world, maybe.  I realized only after we got ashore that it had not even occurred to me to pull the tab on my fancy-dandy new inflatable vest, and that getting back into a Birder is tricky at best.  I know I will never take the kayak out into more open water.  I can also be sure that my boys will not be so quick to panic next time--if they ever consent to go with me again.

    Of course, all of this was according to plan. 

[tom151]

Great story Jeff,

And a great lesson.

Of course, all of this was according to plan. 

Hmmm... "all according to plan" -- this should be the tagline of every parent's autobiography.

[Frank Hagan]

Getting back into a paddle craft is always a chore.  I know you are supposed to reach across for the opposite rail, but even then you tend to just tip the kayak towards you.  I've often wondered if something like a stirrup could be hung from the opposite rail so that you push down on it with your foot while you pull yourself up with the near rail. then flop over the side.

[JeffM]

I've seen an inflatable paddle float advertised; with float on one end of double-paddle and other end across kayak, you have a sort of boarding handle that doesn't overbalance the boat.  I don't think it would work for me: even on my big, stable Core Sound I need a step low on my rudder just to heave myself to the waterline.  On the other hand, I might have been able to roll myself in with the cockpit flooded, then lay still while I bailed out the water and got some stability back.  Maybe -- if solo paddling.  But here that would have meant leaving the boys in the water longer.  Even if their bigger surface area/volume ratio hadn't made that too dangerous, I think they would have freaked out.

[DISTELTK]

I intentionally dumped my Birder II.  It was to test if I could get back in.

I was in water that I could touch bottom, but not while trying to get back in.

I tried to slide in over the stern. I got started up over the stern and started to shinny myself forward.  Only problem was I build my splash rail all the way to aft end of the cockkpit.  That was tough on the thighs.  Other than that It was not

too difficult for an old overweight guy to get in.  I bailed most of the water out before trying to get in.

Tom D. 

[Rod Thompson]

A standard method for kayak re-entry (which the Birder coaming may make difficult) is to have a rectangular float covered in mesh or other material that will slip over one of the paddle blades.  The other end is inserted into the deck rigging so that the paddle now acts as a outrigger.  The foot hooked over the paddle shaft near the float allows one enough purchase to slither into the cockpit and begin using the hand pump.  I carry the the float and the pump as standard gear on the deck within easy reach.  If it is choppy enough to capsize then any re-entry method will be a challenge.  Two or three people who have practiced this before hand should make it easier and keep panic at bay.

With the Scouts I made a fun afternoon on a hot day of practicing re-entry as a sort of race.  They thought it easy until I moved them into water over their heads.