Take a side seat

If you’re looking for a bit of extra stability when stepping into your kayak, the side entry is worth a try.

New kayakers may find simply getting into a kayak one of the great early challenges. Lacking any support, a kayak on water is extremely tippy. Add the weight and instability of a person settling down, plus the movement of water from waves, wind and current, and you have the makings for a wet mishap – or at the very least, an ungainly entry.

The side entry takes care of one of the greatest elements of risk when entering a kayak: the need to maintain your center of gravity. Stability is created by using the paddle as the equivalent of an outrigger.

Coast&Kayak Magazine teamed up with Ocean River Sports kayak instructor Gary Doran for a day at the beach to show the subtleties of learning the side entry. Here are some points to consider, courtesy of Gary.

• Start by making sure your boat is completely immersed in water before you start. The water should be deep enough so you won’t bottom out when seated. If do you bottom out, your launch will be considerably more difficult. Using the beach for stability might also backfire. The stern of the boat is pointed, and so becomes quite tippy with the weight of a person in the cockpit.

• Point your bow into any oncoming waves, but angle your kayak about 45 degrees toward the beach. This helps the bow pierce the waves and also makes the kayak more stable as your paddle will be sitting in more shallow water when used as the brace.

• Set up the paddle shaft as an outrigger by gripping it behind you with your hand along with the cockpit coaming. Place your other hand on the paddle shaft. This gives a well-supported boat in the one direction, making tipping very unlikely.

• Place the paddle with the power face up so it forms a nice contour on the bottom and removes stress from the blade by adding it to the stronger shaft.

• Put most of your weight on your kayak. “If you’re sitting on the paddle itself you could actually break the paddle, although it’s pretty rare,” Gary says. “The paddle is meant to give you some support, but you don’t want to put all your weight on the paddle.”

• If the waves are strong you can point the bow directly into the waves, but at a cost: your paddle shaft is going to be out in deeper water, making it trickier to support yourself.

• Once in the water paddle away from shore a short distance to escape any waves or to avoid drifting onto shore while you secure your sprayskirt. Then you are ready to paddle away and enjoy your day!

Gary Doran is the head instructor with Ocean River Sports in Victoria BC, a Paddle Canada Level 3 instructor trainer and a Sea Kayak Guides Alliance of BC guide trainer. Thanks to Gary and Brian Henry at Ocean River for their assistance with this article.