Kayaking 1 STAR Personal Skills

1) Lifting and Carrying- When lifting the kayak, always ensure a proper posture. Just like lifting anything heavy, always use your legs by squatting down to lift the kayak instead of using your backs. First, stand beside the kayak at the cockpit, squat, and grab the kayak by holding onto the combing of the cockpit with each hands on either side of the cockpit. Turn the hull of the kayak towards yourself while standing up slowly with your legs bent with the kayak still in contact with the ground. Lift the kayak onto your bent thigh with the cockpit facing outwards and upwards and holding the combing, use both hands to lift the kayak to shoulder height with the cockpit facing you now. Rest the kayak with the inside of the combing on your shoulders with the support of your hands.

2) Launching the Kayak- When ready to launch the kayak, place two-thirds of the kayak in the water with the bow facing the water. Cross over the kayak at the after deck, lower yourself onto the after deck and hit off any particles or debris before entering the kayak by placing one leg at a time inside the cockpit. Ensure that the paddle is within reachable distance. Using one hand to hold the paddle, use the other free hand to push the boat forward into the water. When the kayak feels "light" and most part of the kayak is on the water, use the kayak to paddle forward and launch the kayak.

3) Forward paddling- When paddling, the trunk and shoulders should be utilised together with the arms. Paddling using solely on arms will result in fatigue very quickly and is ineffective in paddling. First, dip one of the paddle blade into the water just beside the kayak at the foredeck region and pull back the paddle blade with the other hand pushing the other blade forward. When the other blade has been pushed forward and reached the foredeck region, dip this end of the paddle blade into the water and repeat the motion.

4) Reverse paddling- The motion is the exact opposite of forward paddling. Now, start by dipping one of the paddle into the water close to the kayak at the afterdeck region and push the paddle blade forward with the other hand simultaneously pulling the other end of the blade backwards into the water on the other side of the kayak near the afterdeck. Repeat the motion. Turn your trunk and look over one or both shoulders to check the direction you are heading.

5) Stopping- The kayak can be stopped simply by increasing water resistance to the kayak. To stop gradually, place the paddle blade in the water at a perpendicular angle to the kayak's cockpit. Alternate the dipping of the kayak blade into the water by placing the paddle blade into one side of the cockpit, then to the other and back again until the kayak comes to a haul. Placing the paddle blade at one side of the kayak throughout the stopping will cause the kayak to turn.
To Stop the kayak immediately, reverse the motion of the kayak. So if you are moving forward. Employ backward paddling right away and vice-versa.

6) Sweep stroke- The sweep stroke is employed to turn the kayak at a wider angle. To do the forward sweep stroke, instead of dipping the paddle blades into the water at a vertical angle, tilt the paddle blades so that the paddle blades are more parallel to the water surface and pull the water through a longer distance from the bow to the stern. To turn right, do this on the portside(left) of the kayak and vice-versa. To do the reverse sweep stroke, employ the same technique, but start pushing the paddle from the stern to the bow. To right turn using the reverse sweep stroke, do the reverse sweep stroke on the starboard side(right) and vice-versa.

7) Rotating 360 degrees on the spot- To rotate in a clock-wise direction, you can either do a forward sweep stroke at the portside(left) followed immediately with a reverse sweep stroke at the starboard side(right). You can also do a reverse sweep stroke at the starboard side followed by a forward sweep stroke at the portside. To rotate in an anti-clockwise direction, do exactly the opposite.

8) Return to shore and disembark- using sweep strokes, ensure that the kayak's bow is facing the water with the stern facing the shore and back paddle slowly towards the shore. Depending on the nature and condition of the shore, get off the kayak when the water is shallow enough by pushing yourself up onto the after deck and pulling your legs out of the cock pit get off the kayak with the paddle within hand reach.

9) Capsize drill- To do the capsize drill, first decide which side of the kayak you would be coming out from underwater. If you are more comfortable coming out from the starboard side, then place your paddle at your starboard side and clasp the paddle close to your kayak by having your both hands touching the hull of the kayak with your body bent forward. Once ready, take a deep breath and capsize the kayak by shifting your centre of gravity to either one side of the kayak. Once underwater, remain calm and continue to use your arm to hold the paddle close to the kayak and use your free hands to tap the hull of the kayak 3 times. Once done, push yourself out of the cockpit by pushing your body out first followed by the legs and exit to the side where your paddle is. Once out of the kayak, one hand should hold onto the paddle and the other hand should hold onto the combing of the cockpit. using the combing of the cockpit and the toggle ropes on the deck of the kayak, move yourself to the bow of the kayak and using one hand hold onto the toggle rope at the bow of the kayak and use the kayak as a float and use another hand to extend the paddle vertically upwards to grab attention and shout for help. You can also wrap your legs around the bow of the kayak and use the kayak as a float.

10) Capsize, swim ashore and empty- If you are near the shore and no help is available in the vicinity. Once you are calmed down and rested, hold one hand onto the paddle and the other onto the toggle rope on the bow of the kayak and use your legs to propel yourself towards the shore until you can stand on the ground underwater. Empty the Kayak with assistance by using the see-saw method. First, do not turn the kayak upright once it is capsized as turning it around will only cause more water to enter the cockpit. If the kayak happens to be upright, turn it over again quickly to trap air in the cockpit. Ask your partner to be at one end of the kayak and you at the other end. Both of you will take turns to lift the kayak up to allow water to flow out from the kayak. When one end of the kayak is lifted, the other end is not moving and acts as a pivotal point by the other holder. Take note of the lifting posture by utilising the legs and not the lower back.

11) Moving Sideways ( J draw and classic draw)

J draw- To employ the J draw, rotate your trunk to the direction that you want to move to. So if you want to move towards the right, turn your trunk to your right and immerse the paddle blade at the right fully into the water with the powerface of the blade facing yourself. Lift your left hand that is holding the left side of the paddle shaft up around the height of your forehead. Using your left hand as a pivot, use your right hand to draw in water towards the kayak. Your left hand should be relatively stationary. Once u draw water towards your kayak, u will notice your boat will start to move sideways. Continue doing the same stroke by pulling the paddle blade out of the water once your blade is close to your kayak and repeat the action of immersing your paddle blade fully into the water with the powerface facing the kayak and draw in water again.

Classic draw- Like the J-draw, rotate your trunk to the direction that you want to move to. So if you want to move towards the right, turn your trunk to your right and immerse the paddle blade at the right fully into the water with the powerface of the blade facing yourself. Lift your left hand that is holding the left side of the paddle shaft up around the height of your forehead. Using your left hand as a pivot, draw water towards the kayak using the powerface of the blade. This time, do not take the paddle out of the water. Instead, rotate your right wrist to make the paddle blade face directly perpendicular to yourself underwater and move the paddle away from you back to the original distance in the water away from your kayak and repeat this motion to let your kayak move sideways.

Stern rudder- The stern rudder is used to keep the kayak in course by allowing the kayak to be kept running in a straight line while changing its direction slightly. To do this, just simply place your kayak paddle close on either side of the stern by having the paddle blade face facing the kayak. To turn right, place the paddle blade at the right stern and vice-versa for left turning.

Low Recovery- This is to stabilise the kayak and prevent it from capsizing when the kayak is nearly off balance. Do this by holding the paddle in front of you horizontally with your elbows raised, forming a rectangle with your elbows and the shaft of the paddle. If your kayak is tilting left, use the backface of the left blade of your paddle to push the water to get a counteractive force that push your kayak back upright.

Rescue- If you spot someone capsize in the water. Kayak your Kayak towards the person and his kayak and stop at a safe distance to check on the condition and status of the personnel. This is to prevent panic-stricken personnel from pulling and toppling your own kayak and causing you to capsize. Once you checked that the person is alright(if he/her isn't try calming him down before approaching him/her) row towards him/her and ask him/her to pass u his/her paddle. Rest the paddle on your cockpit. Instruct the personnel to swim towards the bow of your kayak and hold onto the toggle rope at the bow and wrap his legs around the bow for floating purposes. Next move your kayak to so that you can grab hold of the kayak by grabbing on the combing and any ropes or strings on the kayak. Pull the capsized kayak cockpit facing down up onto your own kayaks foredeck. Water will start gushing out once the kayak is upside down resting on your kayak. Tilt the capsized kayak left and right to empty the water in the capsized kayak. Employ the help of the capsized personnel if need be. If there is another kayak in the vicinity, employ his/her help by joining the 2 kayaks together and empty the water with the help of the other kayaker in the same manner.

Deep water entry- Once the kayak is floating upright with the water emptied, enter the kayak from the stern. First, place your paddle in the cockpit to prevent it from floating away. Then push you upper body up on the afterdeck and rest it on it. Once ready, move your legs on at a time up the after deck too. Once done, keep your centre of gravity low by keeping a low profile. Now, you should be in a sitting position on the afterdeck of the kayak with each leg on either side of the kayak and your upper body bending forward to keep your profile low. Next, using the help of the combing of the cockpit or any of the deckline ropes, pull yourself slowly forward towards the cockpit. Once you reach the cockpit, put one leg in followed by the other into the cockpit and back in you go into the kayak. If another kayak is present in the vicinity, the other kayaker can help by holding your paddle for you and holding your kayak to stabilise it while you are climbing up onto your kayak. If there are 2 other kayaks present, the capsized kayak can go in between them with 2 kayakers on each side stabilising the kayak while the capsized personnel make his/her way up the kayak.