getting into and out of your kayak

[Cutwater28GG]

OK, having rescued a kayaker last year in bad weather and it was a royal pain to get him aboard without him going for a swim, what process do you follow to get into and out of a kayak from the boat?

 

[BradOwens]

In calm weather, place your paddle behind you so that it is resting on the kayak and the swim step, then sit on the paddle and slide across to the swim step.
That wouldn't work in rough weather. In that case, you would need to find something on the boat to grab, such as the swim step rail, and just pull yourself onto the boat. It would be challenging.

 

[Cutwater28GG]

are you doing it off the stern of the swim step or the side of the swim step?

 

[JamesTXSD]

Assuming not an emergency situation, and simply getting into and out of the kayak from the boat, our technique was to put a line on the fore and aft handles on the kayak and tie those to cleats on the downwind side of the boat. One more line from something sturdy to steady yourself as you make the move to/from the kayak. (the more fore and aft you have the lines, the less the kayak will move away from the boat as you stand to get into the boat) The modified version of this to take advantage of the swim step being low to the water would be to tie off the front of the kayak (on a mid-ship cleat) and run a line from the aft handle of the kayak to the far side aft cleat on the boat - that should be controllable to get the seat of the kayak aligned with the side of the swim step; then "roll" out of the kayak onto the swim step.

Depending on water conditions, it won't be elegant, but this should get the job done.

 

[NorthernFocus]

OK, having rescued a kayaker last year in bad weather and it was a royal pain to get him aboard without him going for a swim, what process do you follow to get into and out of a kayak from the boat?

If he was in trouble going for a swim after you showed up should have been the least of his worries. Hand him a line and say welcome aboard 😀

 

[Cutwater28GG]

both a case of his Kayak bashing my gelcoat and I didnt want to lose control of him and the kayak separately. Also trying to manage, boat, crew, kayak, and a rescued person ups the workload.

I did find some useful content from REI on the topic both this
https://www.rei.com/learn/expert-advice/kayak-launch.html
and some videos from REI on youtube.

I think I might try this dock approach from REI from the swimstep. just move the dinghy around to the side.

 

[BradOwens]

If you have a stern mounted dinghy, just lower the dinghy into the water, but keep it attached to the Weaver davits. Climbing out of the kayak into the dinghy is fairly easy.

 

[baz]

If you don't have a dinghy on swim step then surely having the kayak alongside the swim step and secured with a line or two (Stern & bow) then reaching and holding onto the swim step rails should help getting out of the kayak and suspect the reverse would also work.

 

[Cutwater28GG]

why didnt I think of that Brad! genius

 

[ShortCut]

OK, having rescued a kayaker last year in bad weather and it was a royal pain to get him aboard without him going for a swim, what process do you follow to get into and out of a kayak from the boat?

I made a PVC "Kayak Launch Station" for each side of the boat as shown in the picture. The kayaks are tied fore and aft to the cleats such that they have very little possible movement. We get into our kayaks be simply stepping from the swim step into the kayak and sitting down. We then grab a paddle, untie, and head out for a ride. We return by reversing the procedure.

 

[Cutwater28GG]

super cool! where does that bracket store? looks too large for the cockpit locker?

 

[ShortCut]

super cool! where does that bracket store? looks too large for the cockpit locker?

I assembled the brackets with stainless steel screws (and no glue) so that they could be partially disassembled and stored in the cave if necessary. We normally use the kayaks (and brackets) every day while in the Salish Sea, and store them in our garage when we are at home.

Marshall