
Swiftwater Rescue
The bellyak is a useful tool for Swiftwater and Flood Rescue, providing a quickly deployed mode of transport for rescuers to assist victims. Below are descriptions of how the Bellyak can be used as a tool for Swiftwater and flood rescue.
Benefits of the Bellyak:
- Swim, Paddle, Wade transitions are seamless…no sprayskirt and self bailing design creates easy (and fast) option, that is also easy ditch if necessary.
- Speed and near zero drag in the water – glides
- Fast, Simple, Relatively Safe
- Rapid deployment from shore
- Easy learning curve for novice users
- Transport for a victim under the rescuer
Limitations:
- Class 2 and 3 for stability
- May require rescuer to tend the Bellyak from the water in heavy current (tension diagonal?)
- Approximately 500 pound weight limit for combined Rescuer and Victim for tethered rescues.
- Bellak needs a sling design for the bow and stern connections (poly line 3⁄8 or 1” tubular web 8’)

Techniques
- Wade Assist: especially useful in Flood SAR.
- Equipment transport (like a water wagon)
- “Tag-Line” for hole and low head dam rescues
- Tethered floating reach device
- Support for foot entrapment
- Kayak rescue and dumping/paddler assist back into boat in current
V-Lower
- Lines must be evenly tensioned during lower
- Easy to go upstream with just the belayer
- 2 belayers and rescuer
- Anchor to the bow upstream – rescuer can face either direction up or downstream
- The V-lower can be created from one side of the river using a LCD Line capture device
Direct Line Lower
- 1 belayer can move the Bellyak with rescuer up and downstream
Pendulum
- Tandem toward the rear of the Bellyak – Victim is secured under rescuer
- Unattended victim could be transported with little to no effort from the victim
Tethered Bellyak
- Rescuer could swim and would be without tether
- Tethered Swimmer on untethered Bellyak as a access and ditch tool
- Tethered Swimmer and tethered Bellyak
- Belay for rescuer is upstream
- Vector is required for quick recovery
- Belayer for Bellyak is toward shore and or downstream to avoid congestion
- Rescue is conducted and then the Bellyak is retrieved
- Rescuer places short coils (15’) on upstream backside before launch
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