Paddle & Hand signals for kayakfishing and kayak touring

Yakass Home

Paddle & Hand signals for kayakfishing and kayak touring

Published on Saturday, 05 December 2009 11:03

Written by Holger

With our upcoming trip to Fraser Island in mind I thought now would be the right time to provide a heads up on paddle and hand signals for kayaking. Paddle signals are extremely useful for keeping groups together, beach landings and for communicating basic messages over long distances or over loud surf and there's a good chance Carl, Josh, Paul and I will be falling back on them at times during our expedition. Every paddler should learn the basic paddle and whistle signals. Because a person on the beach has a much better overview of the situation on the water and the approaching waves (for example), it can pay off if the first one back on the beach guides the rest of the group in. These are the most common and important signals:

Come to me! / Can I come in?: Hold the paddle vertically or raise one arm straight up above your head. Given on open water, a group seeing this would gather around the signaller. Seen on the beach, it means the coast is clear, come in to shore. You can also use this signal to ask if the beach is clear, or to answer 'I am coming in'.
Stop!: Hold paddle horizontally above your head or hold arms horizontally out to your sides. This means stop, do no proceed. Paddlers should hold their position.
Speed up!: Hold the paddle vertically, and move it vigorously up and down. There is most likely a big set of waves approaching behind you, and your window of opportunity is about to shut.
Proceed this way!: Take your paddle or your arm and point to the left or the right. Always point the direction you want to have the paddlers go, the clear and safe path. Do NOT point to an obstruction.
Go back!: Paddle blades wagging up and down mean 'go back'. Start paddling backwards. There is probably a big wave approaching, and you need to get out of the impact zone quickly.
{mosimage}
Are You Okay?: To ask if someone is okay, take one arm and point to the person you are asking about. At the same time pat the top of your head with the other hand. This asks the question, "Are you OK?". If the person being asked is okay, they should respond by patting the top of their head with their hand; this means, "I'm OK". Any other response, waving their arms, or a no response is taken to mean that the person is not okay and help is required.
Look over there: There are two common signals used to direct somebodies attention to something. Either use your index & middle finger, point at your eyes and then towards the thing you want to point out, or the 'Indian method' where one hand is held as a 'sun visor' above the eyes, and the other hand points in the direction to look.
We need a First Aid Kit!: Cross forearms with one forearm vertical, the other horizontal

There are many other signs as well, like pushing the sunglasses up with the middle finger, which is a clear sign of envy when I caught the biggest fish of the day...

There are also commonly used whistle signals:
One Blast is used to attract attention.
Three blasts mean: ' I need help ' or ' Emergency '. The group assembles around the signaller.