Traditional Greenland Deepwater Dog Rescue

Well, Kat and I just returned from our sojourn in Maine. Mornings we paddled, the bay or the lakes, afternoons we hiked. We stayed in Northport on Penobscot bay, and I brought a red sit on top with me, and rented a plastic chatham 16 to practice my rolling and greenland stroke. Well, turns out if you have a nicer looking boat, a sit on top, 2 dogs and a wife, you can forget about paddling the sea kayak. You are going to be in the sit on top. Sadly, my recent experiences have left me with a hunger for responsive boats. I get bored in a sit-on-top! So I decided, in the interest of interest, "let's include everyone on our paddles". After much research, I have reconnected with the traditional greenland method of paddling a sit on top with a squirmy pitadorabull retriever in the back. Balance wise, it's a lot like your first time on a ski. So without further ado, I give you the traditional greenland deepwater sit-on-top dog rescue. Please excuse me for not having the greenland name for this technique.


To begin with, The paddle is placed under the thighs, and Nikopotamus is encouraged to approach the tankwell from the stern at a 45 degree angle. This facilitates re-entry for both dog and "hunter".

While bracing with the legs, offer Niko a hand up. Notice how much bracing is happening.

And he's up! Now go for a paddle. When the black flies build up, you can use the traditional greenland fly swatting stroke (for another article), or if they are very bad, send him for a 10 minute swim as you paddle. The flies might go away if you are lucky.