Canoe Basics

Canoe Rescue

Canoe-Over-Canoe Rescue Technique

Are You Ready to Get Wet?

An Explanation of the Canoe-Over-Canoe Rescue Technique

Maneuvering a canoe does take a certain level of skill. Although one can easily maintain a sense of balance, a canoeist consciously needs to be aware of his surroundings at all time. On occasion, other boaters have been known to (either intentionally or unintentionally) create sets of waves that can topple the most experienced paddlers, in addition to the challenges that Mother Nature contributes.

Developing that experience of oaring proficiency can only occur when taking to the water. As a suggestion, plan your canoe outing with other canoeists. Besides the camaraderie of quality time spent with friends, traveling in small groups provides you with opportunities to perfect the "Cane-Over-Canoe" Rescue Technique. This technique is best performed when on any body of water. Once having mastered this procedure, an experienced canoe veteran not only has greater confidence in his environment, but has the added advantage of being able assist others with a capsized canoe.

• So you're enjoying a wonderful day on the lake; suddenly and unexpectedly, you find yourself in the water with a swamped canoe. What do you do next?

• Hopefully you've kept your composure - you make sure your companions (that were) sharing your canoe are okay - no one is drowning and no one is hurt.

• Retrieve your paddles and other floating items. (For the sake of this discussion, I am assuming that the occupants know how to swim and that they are wearing their life jackets (PFDs) and not watching them drift away, aided by the wind and water currents.)

• Transfer the contents of your submerged boat to a nearby and upright canoe. During this time, either a former passenger or the rescuing boat is hanging onto the overturned canoe (so that it doesn't also drift away).

• Position the upside-down, swamped canoe so that one end is perpendicular (at right angles) to the center of the rescuing canoe (forming a "T"). The rescuing canoeists will need to slide towards the center of their watercraft.

• Once they are ready to receive the upset canoe, the people in the water will push down the end of the canoe (located at the bottom of the "T"). This motion forces the opposite end of the canoe to lift, enabling the rescuers to pull and drag the (upside-down) canoe across its gunnels and maintain the right angles.

• After both ends of the overturned canoe are above the water, the rescuers wait for gravity to drain the water from the capsized vessel.

• Once sufficient water has been emptied, the rescuers will then turn the canoe right-side-up and carefully slide the back into the water and return to their seats.

• Align and hold the two canoes aide-by-side, allowing the swimmers an opportunity to climb back into their watercraft. (Special Note: Do not transfer the retrieved items back into the righted canoe until everyone is re-positioned within their original boat. Sometimes people swamp the canoe when attempting to re-enter it.)

• Once the swimmers are seated, the rescuers may hand over the paddles and belongings to the soaking, wet canoeists

The boat bump is primarily a river rescue technique. It is used to push canoes into eddies so a canoe-over-canoe rescue can be performed, or to push the canoe and victim all the way to shore.

Before starting a boat bump the victim needs to be on the upstream end of the canoe, swimming the boat on a ferry angle toward an eddy or shoreline. The rescuer paddles in 90 degrees to the victim's boat and pushes with the bow of his canoe just upstream from amidships. Maintaining good angle, along with powerful strokes, make the boat bump effective. If done poorly, the rescuer can be more of a liability than a helping hand.

If you dump your canoe in flatwater and another boat is not present, one way to reach shore is paddling awash. It works best if the canoe has good primary stability. Simply crawl back in your swamped canoe and sit on the bottom of the craft and paddle it to shore. This is much easier than trying to pull or push the canoe while swimming. This obviously doesn't work in whitewater.  

If you dump your canoe in whitewater and there's no other boat around, swimming your canoe to shore is your only option. Get to the upstream end of your canoe as quickly as possible; never be downstream from your canoe! Look downstream and evaluate hazards. If you have a partner make sure he or she gets upstream as well. If there are no life-threatening obstacles, like strainers, angle your canoe to a correct ferry angle and swim it upstream until the current pushes you into an eddy or shoreline. This should be perfected early on in your whitewater paddling career.

This is a good technique for self-rescue in flatwater. The canoe needs to be unloaded first. The victim positions himself or herself amidships with the canoe floating in the upright position. The victim then depresses the near gunwale about 6 to 12 inches below the surface and frog kicks the canoe forward. Before momentum forward is lost the victim lifts the near gunwale until it is above the water surface. A rhythm is developed repeating this sequence until the canoe is empty. This can be done with a 16-foot canoe in as little as 25 seconds.  

Use a throw bag station whenever running a rapid where the potential for a rollover is possible. Careful choice of throw bag location is important. The rescuer needs to be aware of where the victims and canoe will end up once successfully secured to the rescue line. It's also important that the person managing the throw bag has lots of practice in choosing a good location for the throw bag station, throwing the rescue line, and anchoring the rope once the victims have grasped it. Before the rescuer throws the bag, a whistle should be blown to alert the victims. An inexperienced rescuer is more of a liability than an aid.

Open Canoe Self  Rescue