Sooner or later, everyone who paddles a packraft ends up in the water. A gust, an eddy line, a lean too far reaching for a hat. The swim itself is rarely the problem. What matters is what you do in the next thirty seconds, and that is a skill you can learn on a warm afternoon in water where you can stand.
The first seconds in the water
Your PFD brings you to the surface. Let it. Get your breath, get your bearings, and look for three things: your packraft, your paddle and the nearest safe shore.
In cold water the first minute brings a gasp and fast breathing. Keep your face out of the water and wait for your breathing to settle before you try anything hard. Our cold water field note covers why that minute matters.
Then make one decision. Is it quicker and safer to get back in, or to swim to shore? On a flat lake close to the bank, either works. On moving water, the shore usually wins.
Hold on to the paddle
A paddle is your engine. Lose it and a simple swim becomes a long wait. Keep hold of it from the moment you go in.
The easiest way is to hold the paddle and a grab handle or the edge of the packraft in the same hand. That leaves one hand free to swim or to reach for the far tube. If the paddle does float away on a lake, retrieve the packraft first. A packraft blows downwind faster than a paddle drifts, and you can paddle with your hands to reach the shaft.
Paddle leashes divide opinion. On moving water a leash is an entanglement risk, and most river paddlers go without. On a lake in wind, some people like one. Know the trade before you clip in.
Flipping it back upright
A capsized packraft floats upside down, high and light. Righting it takes a few seconds once you know the move.
- Swim to the side of the packraft, not the end.
- Reach across the upturned hull and grab the far tube or a grab handle.
- Pull it towards you and lean back. The far side lifts, the packraft flips and lands right side up.
- Keep hold of it as it lands so the wind does not take it.
A self-bailing floor helps here. Any water that comes over the tubes drains away through the floor, so you climb back into a packraft that is ready to paddle, not a bathtub.
Climbing back aboard
Re-entry is the part most people have never tried, and the part that is easiest to fix with practice.
- Come alongside the middle of the packraft, next to the seat.
- Put the paddle across the hull or slide it under the bow straps so both hands are free.
- Reach across and grab the far tube, a handle, or the seat.
- Kick hard with your legs until your body is flat on the surface behind you.
- Pull your chest across the near tube in one smooth move, belly down.
- Twist onto your backside, swing your legs in and sit up.
The kick is everything. Try to climb in from a vertical position and you pull the packraft over on top of you. Get flat first, then pull. It takes a couple of goes to feel it, then it becomes easy.
Swimming to shore
On a lake, swim on your front towards the closest bank, towing the packraft by a handle or pushing it ahead of you.
On moving water, change your position. Float on your back with your feet downstream and up at the surface, toes showing. Your feet fend off rocks, not your head. Never try to stand up in moving water deeper than your knees. A foot caught between rocks with current pushing on your body is one of the few truly dangerous things that can happen on a gentle river.
Stay upstream of your packraft, never between it and a rock or a log. When you see a slow patch of water near the bank, roll onto your front and swim hard at an angle towards it. Aim for the inside of a bend, where the current is gentle.
Practise before you need it
The best time to learn self-rescue is on a warm day, in calm water where you can stand, with a friend on the bank. Set it up on purpose.
- Wear everything you would wear on a real trip, PFD done up.
- Tip yourself out on purpose and feel what the first seconds are like.
- Right the packraft and climb back in. Do it five times.
- Try it with the packraft loaded, the way you paddle on a real trip.
- Swim a few metres towing the packraft and holding the paddle.
Repeat it at the start of each season. A skill you have rehearsed until it is boring is the one that works when the water is cold and your heart is racing. Wear a PFD every time you are on the water, and leave your trip intentions with someone at home.
Every Seeka self-bails and carries a two-year warranty on materials and welding. Or hire one for a weekend first.