I will join the discussion as I just had an excellent learning experience with a capsized kayak.
First off, my boat is a Pelican Maxim 100 Sit-in kayak, 10' long. I don't have any skirting/apron on the boat. It's a quick little 'Fishing' kayak, but not what you would call stable.
I've pretty much figured out that flipping this kayak and getting back in is impossible for me. The boat fills with water, cuz it's a Sit-in..
If it were the Maxim 100 Sit-on kayak, that would be totally different, as it doesn't have the hull to fill.
Also, I am fishing on the McLeod River, in the Whitecourt area, which has a very deceptively powerful current.
Btw, I have capsized my kayak previously, on the McLeod, but was not anchored. That situation was easy. Just stay with the boat, drift to shore. Drain it and continue. Anchoring changes everything (in current anyway).
Here's what happened to me last Friday.
I went onto the river about 12 kms south of Whitecourt; up above Groat Creek.
There's an area of the river that I have always been intrigued by, as I think there's a pretty deep 'hole' there. Figured there had to be Walleye there.
Because the river is high right now, from recent heavy rains, and because I was going out solo (which I do a lot), I wore a life jacket. More on that later...
I have an anchor trolley rigged up on my kayak, and rigged my anchor line with a quick detach clip. Which as it turns out, I engineered failure into my setup.
When I reached the spot, where I wanted to try fishing, I dropped my anchor. But I was careless in how I had my boat positioned. The anchor was dropped on the wrong side, and it turned out the water depth, where I dropped my anchor, was something like 9' deep.
As soon as the anchor dug in, the pull due to the steep anchor line angle, pulled my boat violently to the right. The next reaction was for the boat to rock back the other way, and before I could think, I was swimming.
At this point I was feeling pretty good about the decision to wear the life jacket, but ****ty about my stupidity, as I had caused all my own problems.
And I was also astonished at the power of the current.
I swam to shore and was carried about 30 yards downstream. Had to muck my way back along the bank of the river, fighting with submerged rocks, logs and muck.
I tried about 3 times to right the boat, and release the anchor line, but in the powerful current, every time I got to the boat, my weight, plus the power of the current made the boat just dive, like a submarine.
And the kayak was rolling and turning so that it was impossible to even get to it and take a breather. I was fighting constantly and expending energy, just holding trying to hold on. The powerful current of the river was amazing, and very tough to hold against.
Only one time did I even manage to fight my way back to the end of the boat, where the anchor line extended from. My life jacket, while necessary, was really a detriment, in terms of trying to move toward that anchor line.
Eventually I realized the only option I had, was to abandon the boat, where it was, salvage the important items; my dry-box with keys & wallet, my paddle and fishing rod.
Being in a fast flowing river, with a capsized anchored kayak, completely changes the discussion.
You have to try it to experience just what that current was like!
What I learned though was invaluable.
Number 1, my anchor setup was totally wrong. My so-called 'quick release' was some 7' from the boat. Impossible to get to, when fighting that wicked current!
I modified the way I attach my anchor line. Now I attach the quick release directly to the ring on my anchor trolley.
Number 2, there's a reason all the fishing kayaks you see are Sit-on! I am going to get a better, more stable kayak. And it will be a Sit-on. (Looking at the Pelican Catch 120.)
That's what my kayak looked like, anchored in the current and 95% submerged. Try to 'right' that kayak!