[Paddlewise] It could happen to you

Want to add my thank you to Paul for a helpful story.  And my gratitude
that you are still with us.  Got a couple questions I'm confused about.

1) You said the kayak was rotating about once per second and that you
were accidentally attached to the paddle leash.  Why didn't the boat
just wind up the leash?  A leash a meter or two long would be wound
around the boat in one or two turns.  Thus in one or two seconds into
capsize I picture your body either stabilizing the boat or rotating with

it -- hopefully with one breath per second.  What's wrong with my
picture?  What am I missing? When did the boat stop rotating and how?

2) What is a stern line?  Do you mean the line running around the
perimeter of the boat?  Do you trail a line in the water? And was the
boat still rotating?

3) If the leash had not wrapped around your leg on exit, do you think
you would have kept hold of the boat given 53 mph wind, 6 foot waves,
and rotating boat hitting you in the head? What if you had come up on
the windward side? I take it you and others feel that the tether almost
killed you.  I wonder if it saved you.  And I wonder about tethering
myself to the boat with a quick release mechanism.  A couple of years
ago some teens - strong swimmers -  were drowned here when a 50 mph wind

hit suddenly on a summer afternoon, with no associated storm.  Their
inner tube was apparently just ripped right out of their hands.

4) Ralph said that only a handful of people in the most heavily
populated area in this country could have dealt with the situation.  I
wonder how you would have fared if a float were attached to each side of

the boat and could have been inflated with a yank on a CO2 cartridge?
Would crawling out on a life raft been easier?

Well, thanks again for the report and your thoughts.


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