Kayakers and boaters are essential to ensure the safety of swimmers. Safety is a number one priority of the Swim for Life and requires a coordinated effort from medical personnel and the Provincetown Rescue Squad on shore, and kayakers, stand-up paddle boarders, safety boats, the Harbormaster, US Coast Guard and lifeguards on the water to ensure the safety of each and every swimmer. There is a special symbiotic relationship between swimmers and kayakers that creates a special bond. Check out our page on hypothermia. 

Please read the Water Safety Protocol

Kayakers + Safety Boats

Coyote Kayaks offer free use of kayaks for Swim participants on Swim day between 12:30 and 2:30 pm, 33R Commercial Street.

Kayakers and safety boats are the glue that creates the safety net for the swimmers in the water. Motorboats of all sizes are needed to back up the kayakers when a swimmer needs help. If you know someone with a motorboat of any size who may be interested, please let us know. Thank you.

Registration is12:30-2:30 pm at Canary Wharf Park, 387 Commercial Street, where you will be required to sign the registration/liability release form. Although raising pledges is not required of kayakers and volunteers, we welcome you participation in our fundraising efforts. 

If you are not on our mailing list, please join now and receive updates.

Kayakers and swimmers who raise $1,000 or more are eligible for gift certificates, prizes, ribbons and recognition at the Awards Ceremony.

All kayakers and safety boats may register in advance and help collect pledges. All must register and check in the morning of the Swim.

Once registered, you will receive a coupon for a t-shirt and a bottle of water. Kayakers will also receive a whistle. Rescue tubes will be available for some kayaks. They can be towed behind kayaks and tossed to swimmers in need, therefore avoiding swimmers inadvertently hanging onto the side and tipping a kayak. Swimmers should hold onto the bow or stern of the kayak for rest.

We encourage both swimmers and kayakers to become familiar with the signs of hypothermia. At the Swim start, see map it is important that you stay separated from the swimmers and be in the water when you see Jay arrive with his red lamé flag. Sometimes the start is held up because kayaks are beached and paddlers are not with their boats and in the water.

The Paddler Flotilla will form outside the swimmers from the shoreline and help shepherd them along the swim route. The safety boats will be back of you for support. If you are inexperienced, let the Swim start before you venture out, as long as you are beached away from the swimmers.

East End Groins

There are a series of 14 groins or rock breakwaters along the East End route that are mostly underwater at high tide. These groins will have ROCK STAR kayakers assigned to them to alert swimmers to their position. Let us know if you’d like to be one of the 28 ROCK STARS!. The groins are marked on the Swim Route map. (click map button in sidebar) You may also download a PDF here.

Your important role is to provide support for the swimmers in the water. If you see a swimmer going off course, help them back on course. Stick with slow swimmers if needed, offering rest and water. Keep in mind that swimmers are tired and concentrating on swimming, so please limit conversation.

Kayakers, please do not hit the Canary Wharf Park beach until all remaining swimmers have on-water support.

A tired swimmer should signal one of the kayakers/boaters and hold on to the bow (not the side). The swimmer should not attempt to climb into the kayak. Swimmers also have the option to swim to shore to shallower water.

Kayakers and other boaters signal for assistance if needed by blowing their whistle and raising their paddle vertically over their head.

A final reminder, the kayaker and stand-up paddle boarders’ job is to be a safety net and stay with the swimmers in case they need you. Stay focused, the water can be choppy and challenging to navigate while attending to swimmers.

Some of the most memorable stories about this event are about the special connection that often occurs between a kayaker and a swimmer.

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Be safe.  Thank you.