When you flip a coin, there is a 50% chance that it will land heads-up. When you flip a kayak, there is a 100% chance that it will land heads-down. And by the way, the head that is down is yours! If you want a higher probability of staying dry while you paddle, then you would do well to learn how to avoid flipping your kayak.
While the principles of keeping your boat upright are not difficult, the execution can take some practice. To avoid flipping your kayak you need to scope out the various features and obstacles in your path before you reach them, position your body and boat effectively in order to navigate through the currents, waves and obstacles, execute brace and power strokes, and last of all, keep calm.
Table of Contents
What makes kayaks flip, anyway?
There are two significant elements paddlers face that make them flip their kayaks. These elements are: 1. The sheer force of moving water, and 2. Obstructions.
Forceful water can flip your kayak (if you’re not careful). The fastest flowing river in the world is reported to be the Passaic River. It achieves speeds of up to 75 miles per hour. The Upper Rapids of the Niagara River can reach speeds of 41 miles per hour.
It is unlikely that most of us will find ourselves on a river traveling the same speed as we would on the interstate (a speed for which we would be pulled over and ticketed). However, the force required to flip a kayak is only a fraction of those speeds. In fact, the riskier areas of a river are not necessarily those with the highest velocity, but rather those where the direction or speed of the flowing water changes.
I discussed at length the many features found in a river, here. Many of these features have the potential to flip your kayak
Even in open water, a good stiff wind can either, by itself or in connection with the waves it creates, send you into the drink as quick as the snap of a window shade.
Obstructions can also flip your kayak. Obstructions are simply the things that get in your way. These features often take the form of rock formations. Other times they might be something that has fallen in the water, like a dead tree. In less common cases, they could be animal or man-made features like a dam.
Rocks are as common as fry sauce at the Golden Arches. If you have spent any meaningful time in a kayak, then it is likely that you have experience the thud-and-scrape connected with bouncing off rocks. As you are all-too aware, rocks come in many shapes and sizes and characterize many of the shorelines of our lakes and oceans. They also create a veritable minefield of anxiety-laced fun in our most kayak-able rivers.
Sometimes rocks are dangerous, like the ones into which that pounding ocean surf wants to direct your kayak. Or perhaps the ones that live just under the water of that Class IV rapid that are waiting for you to flip your boat and smack your face. There are definitely dangerous rocks and they are coming for you.
A great many of them, however, are just in the way. You can avoid them, or bounce off them, or even paddle over them without much hullabaloo. While these rocks may not be dangerous, they often create changes in the speed or direction of flowing water that, if not navigated correctly, will absolutely flip your kayak.
‘Strainers’ are dangerous and to be avoided. We call obstacles such as fallen trees ‘strainers’. If you look closely at a strainer, you’ll see that there is only enough room for flowing water and small items to pass through its small openings at speed. However, the force of this flowing water can flip a kayak and suck larger items (like people) into and often under the obstacle and hold them there. The faster the moving water, the more dangerous the strainer. These obstacles are to be afforded a wide berth. They are dangerous.
Obstructions can sometimes lead to a broach. A broach is a situation in which your kayak ends up broadside to an obstacle in the water. It can happen with rocks. It can happen with fallen trees or other debris as well. Broaches happen from time-to-time. Usually, they are a source of embarrassment more than they are actually dangerous. Sometimes the paddler needs to exit his kayak to unlock the broach. Other times, a fellow paddler is able to provide assistance. The latter is, of course, more embarrassing.
However, if a kayak broaches on a strainer, then you have an ‘all-hands-on-deck’ situation. Approach to provide aid with caution and judgement. Secure the paddler as well as the kayak and remove them to a safer spot away from the obstacle.
Position your body correctly to avoid flipping your kayak
There are pro-active steps you can take to maintain your balance so that your kayak remains upright. Perhaps the most effective of these is body position. When I refer to body position, I am speaking in particular about the technique of ‘edging’.
What is edging and why do you do it? Edging is the technique of positioning your kayak on its edge (on purpose, while you are paddling) to allow water to pass underneath your hull without grabbing it and flipping you upside down.
Edging is the opposite of skiing. If you are a downhill skier, then the principles of edging your kayak will at first feel counterintuitive.
When you downhill ski (or snowboard, for that matter), you maintain balance and stability by applying pressure to the uphill edges of your skiis. As you make your way down the ski slope, you do your best to keep your center of gravity balanced over your skiis. If you lose your edge or your balance, the safe move is to fall on your backside, into the hill. This allows you to use the inside edge of your skiis to slow your descent down the hill (a descent that you are now making on your posterior).
The technique of edging your kayak is pretty much the exact opposite.
How do you edge your kayak? If a crosscurrent hits your boat do these three things:
- Lift your upstream knee in the air,
- Lean your body and downstream edge low to the water,
- Keep your downstream paddle blade in the water to provide support.
While these steps look and sound simple enough, until you have built the necessary muscle memory, they are the opposite of what your body wants to do when accosted by river current. However, they are necessary to avoid flipping your kayak.
What are the mechanics of a kayak flip? The intuition of a less-experienced paddler is to try and regain stability by leaning upstream. This is what you do if you ski, you lean on your uphill edge. However, when you lean upstream in a kayak, you expose the side and top of your boat to current.
This flowing current makes you lose your balance as it grips your hull and tries to roll you under. As you lose your balance, your intuition is to use a paddle on the upstream side to regain support. You lean further upstream to execute the paddle stroke. And that, as they say, is all she wrote.
With your kayak, body and paddle all leaning upstream, the rushing current then grabs the upstream edge of your kayak and flips it underneath you. Game over.
Your next job is to protect your head, remove yourself from the capsized boat, come up for air and locate your paddle. (Hopefully your friends help you with the latter.)
Edging exposes the downstream portion of the hull underside to the current. As you lift your upstream knee, you lift the upstream edge of your kayak out of the water. This exposes the downstream side of the bottom of your hull to the current. As the flowing current applies force to this part of your hull, it continues to push your kayak further downstream.
Leaning downstream as part of your edging technique ensures that your center of balance will help keep your kayak edge in place until the current propels you downstream. This allows you to remain on top of your kayak instead of underneath it.
Take a few strong paddle strokes and brace
Maximum-effort paddle strokes. To avoid flipping your kayak, sometimes three-to-four 100%-effort paddle strokes will get you out of trouble.
If you are caught in a cross-current and leaning upstream, then strong upstream paddle strokes will only hasten your demise. However, if are able to execute a reasonable edging technique, then a few maximum effort paddle strokes are often sufficient to keep your boat upright and reposition you in a more friendly part of the river.
Execute brace strokes to keep your kayak afloat. When you find yourself tipping and pass the point-of-no-return, your last chance to keep from capsizing is to execute brace strokes.
Brace strokes are a reactive measure to avoid flipping your kayak. They represent a last-ditch rescue attempt when you know you are going under.
In simple terms, a brace stroke is simply the process of reaching your paddle out and pushing down on the water to create lift on one side of the boat. Braces are important strokes to perfect if you want to remain dry while kayaking turbulent waters.
The Low Brace. This move starts with the paddle low and hands in the pushup position. Reach the backside of the paddle blade into the water (downstream). Some would say slap the blade on the water. Drop your head and body downstream to lower your center of gravity. Then, snap your hips (and kayak) back towards the paddle.
The motion of pushing the paddle blade in the water is intended to provide momentary support so that you can snap your hips back under you.
In order to snap your hips back properly, your hips must return to the upright position before your head does. If you lift your head up too early, you’ll pull on your top knee and this will ensure that your kayak flips. Keep your eye on the paddle blade as you execute the stroke and this will make sure your head is the last part of your body to return to its ‘upright, stowed position’.
The High Brace. This move starts with the paddle at about mid-chest level, in front of your body, this time with your hands in the pullup position. Reach the power side of the blade (the curved side) into the water (still downstream). Similar to the Low Brace, drop your head and body downstream to lower your center of gravity and then snap your hips back towards the paddle. At the same time, pull your paddle inward while rolling your knuckles forward and slice the blade out of the water.
This is a stronger stroke than the Low Brace. It buys you more time to reposition your hips back under the paddle blade and regain your balance. Frankly, the High Brace can really save your bacon as it can often allow you to recover a boat that is virtually upside down.
The downside of the High Brace is that it puts a lot of force on your shoulders. Be thoughtful about how often you rely on the High Brace and the forces that you apply to your shoulders.
The Sculling Brace. This stroke consists of rotating a single blade of your paddle forward and backward, parallel to your kayak, to generate temporary lift. (Think of it like treading water, only with a kayak paddle instead of your feet.) This stroke can be executed while your kayak is holding a slight edge or even while you are virtually on your side laying down in the water.
Start with your paddle in the high brace position. Keep your hands low and paddle shaft as horizontal as you can. Sweep your paddle forward and back about two feet away from your boat. Work on maintaining your paddle blade at a climbing angle to generate lift.
Rather than put all of the force on your arms, rotate your torso to execute the paddle-sweeping motion.
The Sculling Brace can allow you to spend a short amount of time hanging out on your kayak side, this could be just enough to keep you from flipping over.
You can sometimes modify your kayak to make it more… float-y.
If you find your kayak is prone to tipping, there are steps you can take to make it less so.
Lower your seat. This really only applies to sit-on-top kayaks with already-elevated seats. And even then, there may not be much you can do. A new seat might lower your center of gravity, but it could also alter the fit of your boat in ways that you do not like. Be thoughtful before making a big move like this.
Add ballast. Ballast is simply weight added low in your boat to improve its stability. Adding it is fairly easily accomplished. The upside of adding ballast is that your center of gravity will be lowered, helping you avoid flipping your kayak. The downside is that your boat will be heavier and require more effort to propel through the water.
Adding as little as 8-12 pounds can make your kayak more stable and less at risk of flipping over.
Water is actually a great material to use for ballast. Water has neutral buoyancy which means that it adds weight but it won’t cause a boat that floods to sink.
Fill up a few empty 2 liter bottles to construct your ballast.
It is best to position the bottles as close to the paddler as possible. In a sit-on-top kayak, this could ideally be right under the seat. Otherwise, position the ballasts just behind the seat or right in front.
As you might imagine, it is imperative to secure the ballasts. Their purpose is to improve the stability of your kayak. However, a bunch of 2 liter pop bottles rolling around the floor of your boat is anything but stable. You can either tie the ballasts in place or wedge them in. Or both.
Tying the ballasts in place will keep them in the boat in the event that you flip anyway (the exact event you’re trying to avoid). However, they will likely bang around a little. Wedging the ballasts in place with foam or a float bag will be quieter but, if you flip your boat, your 2 liter ballasts will float down river without you. To keep your ballasts quiet and on-board, consider both tying and wedging them in place.
How to avoid flipping your kayak – Parting Thoughts
If ye are prepared, ye shall not fear. Or something like that.
Once you have developed some experience surveying the landscape and can proficiently execute edging and bracing techniques, the last thing to remember is to stay calm. Easier said than done, right? When adrenaline kicks in, you are stronger than you realize. Exercise good judgment, take calculated risks, keep your head on straight and you’ll have a great day on the water.