That looks like a good time! It reminded me of a video I watched a while back about airbags. I have never used them, and was quite surprised to see just how effective they could be at displacing water.
Air bags are definitely important in whitewater paddling. They keep the boat floating higher in the water so it is less likely to pin on rocks. When I started paddling my Outrage a couple of years ago, I flipped in an eddy and lost my swamped boat into the current in the beefiest part of the Quinapoxet River. It went about a mile through the two biggest rapids before the guys could finally push it to shore. It had some dents and scratches, but never pinned - thank goodness. With the boat floating higher it is also easier to flip it over to push to shore.
In whitewater paddling I've never actually tried to get back in my boat from the river. If the rapids are easy, I'll try to swim my boat to shore. If the rapids are more challenging, I'll get myself to shore and hope someone goes after my boat. It's a very different situation when you are tripping. The boat is full of gear so you probably don't have room for float bags, and the group is probably smaller so you have less support.
