Re: [Paddlewise] incident on Lake Superior

The details: The man paddled through the ship canal while there were 8 foot
waves on the lake. The ship canal amplifies the waves, and the mouth is
often very confused. He capsized near the mouth of the canal, and hung onto
his boat for a while.  I'm not sure how, but he ended up outside the canal
on the lake side, and eventually was pulled from the lake after 35 minutes
in the water. He was conscious at that time, but then lost consciousness
due to hypothermia. He was treated and released. 

Its pretty obvious that this could have been avoided in several ways

1) dont go through the canal when the waves are that big
2) dont go out alone when " " " "
3) wear a drysuit-I am assuming he didnt if he was hypothermic after 30
minutes. This is not Lake Havasu
4) dont combine #1,2,3


He's a lucky guy.


Wayne


At 06:33 PM 9/19/98 -0500, you wrote:
>Apparently, a kayaker had a bit of misfortune on Lake Superior near Duluth
>today. I have few details at this point. There was a small craft advisory
>today, a east wind to 30 knots or more and nasty surf. All I know (from the
>Coast Guard) is that he exited his boat in or near the ship canal, and got
>banged up pretty bad against the jetty,  where some people helped him.
>Apparently he is OK after the ambulance came and a trip to the hospital.
>More as it becomes available.
>
>Wayne
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