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Instructor Tom Long helped me develop my favorite approach to the wet exit. Take the opposite tack: Try to enter the boat when it is partially submerged or turned over in the water. Think of the boat as something you want to stay in rather than exit.

View the boat as a water toy. Explore it from underwater. Stick your head up inside and make rude noises. Think like a kid and have fun! Once you shift your thinking, you can relax. And once you relax, you will realize you have tremendous control over your boat using your lower body and your sense of balance.

Just relax and have fun!