Which part of the boat should you place your weight on to right a turtled boat?

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Multiple Choice

Which part of the boat should you place your weight on to right a turtled boat?

When a small boat is turtled (upside down), the way to right it quickly is to place your weight on the gunwale—the upper edge along the side of the hull. Standing on that edge provides a stable lever point. By pushing down on the gunwale with your body weight, you rotate the hull from the inverted position toward upright, using the buoyancy of the hull to help it come back over. Once it starts to come upright, you can grab the hull and finish righting it. The deck is not a reliable lever when the boat is inverted, and you don’t push on the hull’s body or the keel to right it—those surfaces don’t offer the same effective turning point and can be unsafe.

When a small boat is turtled (upside down), the way to right it quickly is to place your weight on the gunwale—the upper edge along the side of the hull. Standing on that edge provides a stable lever point. By pushing down on the gunwale with your body weight, you rotate the hull from the inverted position toward upright, using the buoyancy of the hull to help it come back over. Once it starts to come upright, you can grab the hull and finish righting it.

The deck is not a reliable lever when the boat is inverted, and you don’t push on the hull’s body or the keel to right it—those surfaces don’t offer the same effective turning point and can be unsafe.

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