The rescuer puts both paddles together across the raft and tucks them into her waist. If she leans forward a little onto them, they’ll act like a brace, stabilizing the raft (see Image 1).
The swimmer reaches across his cockpit, or just aft of it, with both hands and grabs the coaming on the far side. The rescuer grabs hold of the swimmer’s PFD shoulder strap (see Image 2). It’s better if the rescuer uses her “outside” hand for this (the hand farthest from the swimmer). She will be in a much better position to pull the swimmer out of the water and across the rafted boats. By reaching across with the outside hand, the rescuer twists at the waist, readying the large muscles of the torso for the pull.
 The next step is quite crucial, especially if the swimmer is larger and/or heavier. The command from the rescuer is “1-2-3 JUMP!” The swimmer kicks his legs to the surface (see Image 3) and, on the word “JUMP,” pulls himself onto the raft. Simultaneously, the rescuer pulls on the PFD (see Image 4). Twisting at the waist provides a powerful pull—by leaning back, the rescuer can exert an even stronger effort. Under some conditions, it may be possible for the rescuer to place her free hand on the near side of the swimmer’s kayak to provide something to push off and to keep it fairly level when the swimmer comes out of the water.
In rougher conditions, the rescuer can use that free hand to keep the raft together. If the actions of both swimmer and rescuer are sufficiently coordinated, the swimmer will land well up on the raft face down. As long as the rescuer hangs onto the swimmer, the raft will keep together, and the rescuer can focus her efforts on helping the swimmer get out of the water and onto the kayaks. This can be a great benefit to a swimmer who doesn’t have good upper-body strength or has been weakened by cold water.
 The rescuer directs the swimmer which way to turn to get into the cockpit. As the swimmer begins to slide into the cockpit, the rescuer holds the rafted kayaks together with one hand (see Image 5). It helps if the swimmer has practiced getting into the cockpit quickly so that the center of gravity is lowered as soon as possible. If the swimmer is not familiar with reentry techniques, the rescuer should provide directions with short, simple and direct commands. A swimmer is quite likely to be fearful and confused and in need of clear and concise direction. It may be possible for the rescuer to use one hand to hold the kayaks together and the other to help the swimmer into the cockpit to speed up the rescue.
|
