Re: [Paddlewise] paddle tethers

On Tue, Mar 24, 1998 at 08:33:08AM -0900, David Seng wrote:
> >Nothing.  Hold onto the paddle if you think you're going to need it.
> >(The *last* thing I want is any kind of rope or line attached to me.)
> 
> I agree if you're talking about whitewater paddling, but there have been
> times when sea-kayaking that I have thought that it would be handy to
> have a paddle leash tethered _to the kayak_ (not to me!). 

Okay, I'm confused here.  It seems to me that as a whitewater paddler,
I stand a much better chance of having the paddle ripped out of my hands
than a sea kayaker -- in fact, I *have* had the paddle ripped out of
my hands, which is why I work on my hands roll fairly often. ;-)

Now being upside-down sans paddle in big whitewater is not at the top
of my list of Fun Things To Do (most of those involve Sigourney Weaver
and Chadd's Ford Cabernet Franc '95, but I digress) but it has occured
to me that maybe, just *maybe*, that I was better off surrendering
my paddle to Mr. Bubbly than hanging onto it and having one or both
shoulders architecturally rearranged by the river.  So my puzzlement
leads to this question: if you are in water conditions so severe
that your paddle is torn from your grasp, do you *really* *REALLY* want
to be leashed to that paddle?

And to this one: under those conditions, does it do you any good to 
have it leashed to the boat?

Maybe I'm missing something fundamental here (could be; I get hit in
the head fairly often and that's got to be having a cumulative effect)
but I have seen these leashes, held these leashes, admired the construction
of these leashes and can't figure out what the heck good they do.

---Rsk
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