pmmpete:
If I flip my fishing kayak, I want to flip it back upright and heave myself back in as quickly as possible, so I can deal with whatever flipped me over. I have seem some videos of people demonstrating the use of stirrups, ladders, and paddle floats to right a kayak and climb back into it, which showed that they can be deployed fairly quickly and efficiently. But I have seen other videos where the demonstrator fumbled around endlessly getting his or her equipment set up, even in flat water. Slow is not good. Fast is good. So if you use a stirrup or ladder to get back into your kayak, practice so you can right your kayak and get back into it with the assistance of your equipment pretty quickly. You probably won't be able to get back in your kayak nearly as fast as somebody who isn't using a stirrup or ladder. But if you can't get back into your kayak without a stirrup or a ladder, getting back in slowly is way better than being unable to get back in.
A technique issue: When climbing back into a kayak, some people like to grab the near gunwale with one hand, and the far gunwale with the other hand. This is the technique which Zeehawk demonstrated in the video in the initial posting in this thread. I prefer to lay horizontal in the water, grab the near gunwale with both hands, and pull myself up across my kayak (or pull the kayak underneath me, depending on your perspective) with one quick motion. When spearfishing, I do this many times a day with 13-16 pounds of weights on my body and 3.5 pounds on each ankle, and I find that grabbing the near gunwale with both hands works best for me. But try both techniques, and see what works best for you when climbing back into your kayak.
Trident 13:
Lots of new folks and it's a good reminder that sometimes the most exciting part of kayak is getting back in. Saw this on a site and thought I'd toss it out. There's other good videos toward the beginning of this link. This shows a cowboy rentry at the start that can be a challenge when you have gear on the deck but also show the faster "pull yourself in" that works pretty good but requires some practice, especially when it's cold as now.
Fred "True" Trujillo:
I got out to the lake to practice my re-entry skills before getting out to the ocean next week. I know it's a... little different being in a slight swell than it is on a calmer lake. I didn't wear what I would wear on the ocean except for my life-jacket. The water was a bit chilly and the initial dump into the water caught me by surprise, but I was able to throw my Revo 13 and Mini-X over pretty easily, pushing them both up and over. After a few times doing that, I remembered that I'd probably be loaded with crab pots, a fish-finder battery and other miscellaneous gear so it might be harder to push than to pull. On the next couple of tries, I pulled myself over the flipped kayak, grabbed the far handle and let my 185 pounds pull it back to the upright position. So much easier! I know I need to practice this every year or so because just my THINKING that I'm in shape and can pull myself into a kayak doesn't necessarily mean that I can.
My daughters (8 and 15) also got into their kayaks and practiced re-entry as well for when they eventually come fishing with me whether it be on the lake, bay or river. I told them, "This is one of the skills you have to have in order to go kayaking. If you can do it and pull yourself in then you can kayak. You can't expect someone else to do it for you." They seemed pretty proud fo their achievement.