Packraft Wet Reentry Photo Demo

Carol and Matt,

How do you reconcile Erin and Hig's "self-rescue of a packraft and heavy pack" approach with Roman's?

Roman says it is best to get upstream of your boat mid-point and the heavy pack lashed to your bow. Reach across the boat and pull the downstream edge towards you to right the boat and pack before getting back in.

Erin and Hig say, it is extremely difficult to right a packraft with a heavy pack lashed to the bow. They suggest having a light tether between your pack and packraft plus a quick release lash strap. After flipping, you enable the quick release of the tethered pack so that it floats adjacent to the packraft connected via the tether. You then orient the boat and enter the same way that Roman suggests.

In turbulent white water flips, in combination with a heavy pack, I have used Erin and Hig’s approach successfully but haven’t tried Roman’s approach to compare them.

I just had a chance to practice my wet reentry a couple of weeks ago on the Verde River in Arizona. My pack was lashed on the bow – it probably weighed around 20 lbs. I tried Roman's technique from his book first – getting upstream and grabbing the tube. I couldn't flip the boat. But, the current was not that fast, AND I was positioned at the middle of the boat. In the photo above, Roman is flipping from the bow. Roman's technique in the Grand Canyon (he mentioned this in my podcast interview about getting a permit) was to flip his boat from the bow. I tried that next and it worked like a charm. I grabbed bow and pack and twisted so that the downstream tube went up and the upstream tube went down and was helped by the current.

Hey Matt –
GREAT photos!

Thanks Carol. Scott's swiftwater course was a blast and we learned some very valuable skills. But most important we came away from the three days feeling very confident in such a small boat on big Alaska water.

Cheers
Matt