Subject: Re: [baidarka] Rescues in Non-bulkheaded Hulls
From: James Mitchell (baidarka@earthlink.net)
Date: Fri Apr 15 2005 - 15:56:50 EDT
Aren't you a bit concerned about damage to the bag, in whatever form?
You might want to consider stringing a pull string through the bow
piece so you could pull the bags in and out of the ends. Just a
thought... but I do like the ideas I am reading about the mylar wine
bags. Besides, what fun we can have when "preparing" the raw materials!
On Apr 15, 2005, at 2:14 PM, kschmidt wrote:
> Wolfgang suggested this idea to me about adding buoyancy to the
> baidarka.... he suggested box wines bags be inflated and inserted fore
> and aft. It works, and on the next boat I skin, the bag will be
> inflated in the extreme ends of the frame before the skin goes on.
>
> Kurt
>
>> One of the main raps against baidarkas, and against all
>> non-bulkheaded hulls, is that they are difficult to rescue quickly.
>> We often play and train in Deception Pass: dramatic cliffs, high
>> speed water, complex underwater structures, heavy boat traffic.
>>
>> NWOC, a fine kayak outfitter in Seattle run by John and Herbie Meyer,
>> finishes their novice classes with a training day in the Pass. I have
>> gone with them a few times in my baidarka, tagging along and helping
>> with some of the weaker paddlers as they teach ferrying and fast
>> water skills in Canoe Pass, a narrow and more protected high flow
>> channel adjacent to the famous whirlpools of Deception Pass. For the
>> most part, NWOC trains in Necky Looksha IV hulls, a multi-chine
>> fiberglass hull with intermediate performance -- and nicely
>> bulkheaded. I remember one day when a student missed her stroke in a
>> strong current and dumped in the middle. I swept downstream to block
>> her from being carried into open water, but it really wasn't
>> necessary as she was able to maintain touch with her hull. The lead
>> instructor that day (sorry, name has escaped me) had her hull tee'd
>> over his, completely cleared of water, upright bow-to-stern, and her
>> back in her boat in less than 90 seconds.
>>
>> We've practiced (studied) that TX rescue with Raven, my first
>> baidarka, at the Thetis Island symposium; although never so quickly
>> or professionally. What we found was that even with the float bags,
>> the hull held so much water in the ends that the deck beams were
>> heard snapping from the weight when we pulled it over the rescue
>> hulls. I have determined that the only safe way to fully evacuate a
>> flooded baidarka is with two rescue boats, doing a slow coordinated
>> roll with a fore-aft rocking motion; but this presumes water that is
>> quiet enough to have three baidarkas side-by-side, with no paddles
>> available to steady the hulls (H rescue). My presumption is that
>> water troubled enough to cause a capsize is seldom that forgiving.
>> Most of my deep water rescues have depended on very full float bags,
>> and have involved reentering a partially flooded baidarka which is
>> subsequently pumped out. Often this becomes impossible because the
>> partially flooded hull continues to swamp water throug!
>> h the open cockpit.
>>
>> I know the standard rescue techniques, and have practiced them
>> frequently. That is not my issue here. In my experience, it is very
>> important for us to displace as much water as possible in a submerged
>> hull, particularly in the ends of the hulls. The problem here is the
>> sheer volume of water inside an unbulkheaded hull. I am sure a
>> fiberglass hull similarly filled would also be permanently damaged.
>> Yet this is the fastest and safest rescue I have ever seen. We have
>> to find a way to fill the entire hull with air, but bulkheads are not
>> an option. What are we to do?
>> The beach balls sound ingenious. Good idea. I have toyed with cutting
>> styrofoam plugs for the bow and stern, and fitting them more-or-less
>> permanently into the hull. Float bags are difficult to push all the
>> way fore and aft. I tried once using a pulley-string arrangement, but
>> I abandoned it as too much extra "stuff" in the hull. I may revisit
>> that. Another option might be to put a flexible stick of some sort
>> inside the float bag to hold it rigid when inserting into the hull,
>> so we can push it all the way in. I recently duct-taped the ends of
>> my float bags in half, so I could slip a paddle into the fold and
>> push the bags all the way in.
>>
>> Having said this about placement of the bags in the hull, still
>> leaves the issue of total volume. Once the bags are inflated, their
>> displacement volume is fixed no matter where they are in the hull.
>> What getting the bags all the way fore and aft will do is open up
>> free space behind the seat and ahead of your feet, both of which can
>> then be filled with air bottles, beach balls, or other float bags.
>> Even without additional floatation, moving the water to the cockpit
>> will allow more of it to be dumped out when the hull is initially
>> rolled upside-down and then upright prior to hoisting the bow over
>> the rescue boat.
>>
>> I really think it is an important safety issue: focus on the volume
>> of water that can flood into our hulls. It is important to preclude
>> that volume by displacing it with air or foam or something, and to
>> move that volume as close to the cockpit rim as possible. Ideally, I
>> would like to be able to reenter and paddle a completely flooded
>> baidarka without having to pump it immediately. Two or three inches
>> of water in the bottom can still be paddled. Barring this, being
>> able to TX rescue a baidarka without damaging the hull would be an
>> advantage. That would get the hull within that 2-3 inch area, usually
>> sufficient to make it to shelter. The only way to do that is to
>> reduce the total volume of water that can enter the hull, and to
>> block the entry of that water to the ends of the hull.
>>
>> Paddling Deception Pass turns this discussion into much more than
>> intellectual curiosity. We each have our own "Deception Pass"; my
>> thoughts turn to the whirlpools and cascades of the Naruto narrows in
>> Japan. Before you say too much on this one, I would suggest trying
>> it out with a buddy in calm water. Try rescuing a fully flooded
>> baidarka. Try it again with float bags. How long does it take? Could
>> you do it in fast water? Stormy water? I am planning to do some
>> more testing this May at Thetis Island. Let's see if we can make each
>> other and our friends more safe in difficult water.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> James Mitchell
>> baidarka@earthlink.net
>> 3815 N. Pearl
>> Tacoma WA 98407 USA
>> 425-273-0884
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