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The dangerous irony with these situations is that instinct tells most people to stay on their yak when the smart thing may be to jump in the water. If you have taken on a noticeable amount of water in less than flat conditions. And it has made your yak unstable or very low to the water line. You should probably not open a hatch to pump the water out without getting off. Getting off does several good things for you. It makes your yak more stable by lowering its center of gravity. It raises it in the water line (hopefully above the chop). It allows you to access parts of your yak that you may not be able to reach atop it. And it allows you to position your body to block the swell/chop from washing into the hatch you are pumping out of. Complacency is probably the most dangerous thing for us kayakers. I am guilty of it big time. But having a plan for what to do when the stuff hits the fan can help greatly.
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