How to get in a Raft

Basic River Skills with Kailee

10 min · Boating Skills Course

In this lesson, Kailee is discussing the critical skill of how to get in a raft from the water which we refer to as mounting or remounting the raft. Having a solid technique for remounting can be more effective than simply getting stronger. The skills we will be looking at in this video are designed to address how to mount the raft more easily and efficiently. We will be looking at the following skills in detail:

Personal Gear
Proper Rigging
Technique - Mantling, Seal Slide, and Laddering

Personal Gear

Your equipment selection has a direct impact on how easily you can remount your boat. Rafting forces you to have a lot of extra gear on your chest and that gear can get caught and snagged when you are attempting to get back in the raft. Following the clean principal and getting a proper PFD are two ways that can improve the speed and efficiency of you climbing back in the raft.

Proper Rigging

Rigging your boat for a flip or a swim is important, but just as important as following the clean principal for your boat is how does your rigging help you get back in the boat? When you are rigging you want to take some time to plan out where you can add pieces which will help you effectively get back in the raft. Having a handle strap on either side of the same thwart (especially the middle thwart) can make getting back in faster and easier. Ideally, we want to build a system that allows for 3 or more points of contact which can lead you progressively farther into the raft.

Technique

Gear and rigging make up a sizable percentage of what goes into effectively mounting a boat, however proper technique along is often your most effective tool for getting back in. We’re going to look at 3 techniques for getting back in. Each technique below requires some upper body strength, but they can be used in different combinations to make mounting the raft easier.

Mantle

The mantle technique is a skill originally borrowed from rock climbing. It involves having two sturdy points of contact close to your chest getting a short boost and pushing up vertically until you can lock your arms out and lean your weight over the top of your arms. This technique is most effective when you have very little space to spread out in, deep water, or no grab points in the raft.

Seal Slide

The seal slide is a technique similar to what seals do so slide from the water onto ice. They lay flat on the surface, get a swimming start, then thrust their chest vertically up and onto the surface of the ice (or in our case the raft. To effectively execute this technique, you will need to kick hard across the surface of the water to build some momentum and keep kicking as you are pulling yourself in the raft. This is most effective when you have a heavily laden raft where the top of the boat is low in the water, when you have a lot of space on the surface to work with (i.e. very wide rivers), or there is a strong risk of flipping the boat such as a light raft with no one in it.

Ladder Technique

Laddering as we call it is a technique where you set multiple rigging points across the top of the raft. The idea is to go hand over hand and grab point after point using each one to help pull you up like the rungs of a ladder. For this technique to be effective it requires forethought and planning with properly placed rigging across the raft. This technique is most effective for anyone on your crew with less upper body strength, running hard rivers where getting back in the boat is a necessity, or cold rivers which can quickly sap your strength.

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