Always wear a PFD when paddling in open water. Good on the video for showing as much. Also, rescues like this can be useful, but personally, I feel like a rock solid roll should be the primary rescue option for all serious sea kayakers. If you capsize in big seas, the rescue shown could be problematic. There is risk of getting separated from one’s kayak, and a rough sea state is likely to fill more of the boat with water. It would be quite difficult to lift a kayak onto another kayak when the boat being lifted has a cockpit full of water. This is all happening while a paddler is in the water, exerting energy hanging on to the other kayak, and getting cold from being in the water. If too much energy is used and the paddler gets too cold, the likely hood of them being able to re-enter their boat decreases. A rock solid roll solves all of this. Capsize, setup, roll upright. In the time it takes to bang on the hull of the capsized kayak, a roll could be executed using little energy, minimizing exposure to cold water, and while still in one’s kayak. No worries about being separated from the boat, nor the boat filling with water. For those reasons, I highly recommend learning a standard roll. If you are interested, Andrew Elizaga, here on YT, has posted “Greenland Rolling with Dubside.” It’s an older but still relevant rolling instructional video. We’ll worth the watch, if you haven’t seen it.

It seems to me that positioning the swimmer between the boats while the capsized boat is being emptied risks serious injury to the swimmer when the next wave bashes the two boats together. I prefer to have the swimmer hold the deck lines at the front of my boat until I have the boat empty, upright, and ready to reenter.

nice and smooth!!

Not only that but both people here are quite rehearsed in this maneuver. So me let’s add a few stress factors; rough water, cold water, sharks in the area, a swift current and the person in the water is a bit overweight and somewhat thick headed and has tried 5 times already and tired. Now; that’s the real typical scenario. You arrive and the panic stricken swimmer now wants in or on your kayak. They let go of their kayak and the current separates the two kayaks. The person in the water is yelling, kicking pulling on your kayak and the sea state seems to be getting worse the waves are definitely becoming an issue and She’s not helping. What would you do? What do you recommend oh yeah; the person in the water is barely floating at all and the waves and current is covering her head every once in awhile and you are about 300 to 400 yards off shore coming up to an inlet.

nice bur who falls out in water like that sober? 99% of all these videos it's always flat calm. Nice to practice but not real world and it may give people false confidence,