Good question, and I really don't have an answer.

I suppose if you have practiced doing it repeatedly under realistic conditions, it would be pretty easy. I didn't. It's hard to have the presence of mind to re-mount your yak if you're just a wee bit scared.

I do remember that I tried a few times and it was tough going as the yak (a Pungo if I recall correctly) was half filled with sea water. I did not install buoyancy bags in it.

I was pretty darn fatigued and a lot of it might have been due to the fact that I was in a state of semi-panic. Also, I had a life preserver on, which is always a good thing, but the bulk of the vest made it difficult for me to manipulate the yak.

I really haven't gone in the water yet, but Peter Lajoie can tell you about this night. We where fishing that river tournament that Rappin Mikey won in the spring time, we where heading down to a new spot. So we are making our way down the bank and I hit this spot where there is some water run off. And if you know felt boots and mud don't go together real well. Well, I slipped and fell a good 5 feet to the shore line and slamming my back off a huge rock, and I am no light weight for sure so I went down hard, never heard Peter laugh so hard though. Needless to say it took the doc a few weeks of adjusting my back to get me feeling good again, but like a trooper we finished the night.

Another funny story fishing the CT River again and there is this log sticking out of the water a little so I go over to it and sit on it, so I am sitting on it for a second and just looking around. All of a sudden snap, I go crashing into the water and because I was sitting down I soak myself up to my arm pits, and once again Peter is hunched over with laughter, I must say I did think that was pretty funny myself.

yeah guy that sh*t was scary. we both got banged up. we lived and we learned tho....

Bart that night I saw you at leaving spot X when the water was HUGE?
That was a sketchy night... but we caught :D

:D