When a hatch floods, a large, heavy volume of water makes for a difficult recovery. Similarly, if a kayak without bulkheads is also lacking adequate flotation ahead and behind the cockpit, that massive volume of water is trouble. This rescue gets its name from the image of the swamped boat with its flooded end deep in the water and the other end pointed toward the sky.

First thing to remember: the flooded kayak is very heavy, but you must avoid injury. So work slowly and have patience! Bring your kayak alongside the swamped boat. The swimmer can hang onto your bow on the opposite side or, if possible, can get out of the water on the deck of another paddler. Find the cockpit and slowly rotate the boat away from yours, so the cockpit is facing away. As you rotate the boat, lift it slowly and easily to let water spill out. It may help to push down on the floating end first, this will lift the other end while giving you support. Maintain the gentle lift as water spills out and the submerged end slowly rises. Eventually, enough water will drain in this manner to make the boat light enough to manage a standard T rescue. If the swimmer is on another paddler's deck, then you can effect a transfer from that perch. Attempt to restore hatch integrity or flotation if possible.

Warm water variation: if the swimmer's well being will not be compromised by immersion, then he can help to lift the flooded boat. The swimmer will take a position on the side of your boat opposite the low end of the capsized boat. From there he can reach across and use a 'curl lift' to slowly raise his boat.

Tandem Kayak Rescues

When a tandem kayak capsizes, the scenario is similar to that of an all-in rescue. The first task, beside making sure that both paddlers are holding boat and paddles, is to decide who gets back into the boat first. It's best to have the rear paddler regain the boat first, because the paddler in the rear seat will easily be able to see what the second paddler is doing and brace accordingly. The two paddlers come to the same side of the kayak and flip it upright sharply, to minimize flooding. Now they move to opposite sides so that the rear paddler is near the stern and the front paddler is the middle of the kayak, ready to stabilize. When the front paddler is ready, the rear paddler hauls onto the stern deck as in a T rescue. Once the rear paddler is well braced in the boat, with spray skirt on, he does a sculling brace on the side of the front paddler, who now hauls up onto the craft. One paddler braces while the other bails as needed, and they're good to go!

Variations: (1) After flipping the boat upright, both paddlers haul up simultaneously from opposite sides, offsetting each other's tendency to capsize the boat; (2) One or both paddlers uses a paddle float to stabilize the recovery.