Packraft Wet Reentry Photo Demo

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.

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