Coaming brace

A coaming brace is used when the paddler is stopped and wants to stay braced while freeing his hands for other things.

This works best with an unfeathered paddle.

The idea is to extend the paddle to one side of the kayak with the outboard blade flat and just below the surface. This will dampen any rolling motion and stabilize the kayak considerably. The paddle should be extended on the side the waves are coming from.

Place the extended paddle close to the body so that the inboard blade and the shaft touch the coaming on opposite sides and the paddle is extended into the water on one side of the kayak. The blade in the water should be kept about 10cm (4 inches) below the water surface. Angling the shaft so that the outboard blade is slightly aft of perpendicular to the kayak's direction will allow you to take advantage of the coaming's slope to guarantee the outboard blade is submerged.

You can hold the paddle shaft in place by hand or by pushing it under the bottom of your PFD and leaning on it with the PFD. The latter will allow you to work with both hands free.