Video: Boarding and Exiting

Transcript for Boarding and Exiting

Rob: Now one of the easiest ways to take a swim as a beginner, which you don’t want to do, is when you’re boarding or exiting your craft.

Haley: It can be pretty tricky, but we’ll show you what you need to know to be a pro.

Casey: Like me.

On screen: 3x Olympian Casey Eichfeld

Haley: Like him.

Let’s start with canoes.

Boarding and Exiting

Haley: Boarding and exiting. From the shore in calm waters, gently put the boat in the water and enter slowly, keeping three points of contact. Hold the gunwales on both sides. Place one foot in the boat. Then push away from shore with the other foot. Climb aboard in a smooth motion.

If you have two paddlers, board one at a time like this.

Rob: And here it is from a dock. Get low. Hold both sides. Step in with your weight over the center of the boat, and kneel for stability until you’re steady.

Haley: With exiting, the principles are pretty much the same. In shallow water, walk low with three points of contact. Then, carefully exit the boat. Just make sure not to push the boat back into the water.

Two paddlers? Even better. Same thing. And the first person out steadies the boat to be a pal.

One weird thing that can happen if you aren’t careful when exiting is this. Losing control of the boat and doing the splits. Point being? Use slow and precise movements when exiting and entering your craft.

Rob: Now on to my favorite: kayaks. Now you might feel a little bit awkward doing this because it is a little bit, but you’ve just got to own it. Obviously, I’ve been paddling a long time; so when I enter a boat like this, it looks pretty easy. However, the boat is never very stable.

Here are few things to think about. When entering from, say, a dock like this, I always maintain three points of contact. I put my feet into the kayak and ever so slowly ease my way onto the deck of the boat. Then, when I’m stable and my feet are in place, I slide in. And I always maintain contact with the dock.

Exiting is pretty much the same but in reverse. While some people will exit with the paddle behind them for stability, that’s not possible on a high dock like this. I first put the paddle on the dock. Then, maintaining three points of contact, slowly and steadily ease my way out.

If you have a nice sandy shore, you can just speed up to beach and then just hop out. Easy-peasy.

Haley: Now let’s take a look at stand-up paddleboards.

Make sure your fin won’t hit the bottom. Holding the paddle and rails, climb aboard just behind the hand well. It’s called a stand-up paddleboard, so let’s stand up. You can keep your paddle horizontal while you get balanced.

Haley: And mounting from a dock, you can kneel and hold the rails like this.

To dismount, kneel when approaching the shore or dock. Then step off. Just make sure to dismount before the fin hits.

At a dock, kneel. Put your paddle on the dock, and use both hands to hoist yourself to sitting.

Rob: And with a little practice, you’ll be great at it.

Haley: And safe. Too easy.