Re: [Paddlewise] more on Coast Guard rescues

From: wayne steffens <wsteffen_at_skypoint.com>
Date: Mon, 28 Sep 1998 12:03:11 -0500
At 08:21 PM 9/30/98 -0400, John Winters wrote:
 >I suspect this may have been Captain Kurt Carlson and I think it may have
>been in the
>fifties.

Yes, I belive it was Capt. Carlson and "The Flying Enterprise"

If what you say is true, and I have no reason to believe it isnt, the
program did not do a very good job of explaining the situation(although I
only caught the last 2/3 of the show). The way it was presented made it
seem that he went well above and beyond what duty or sanity would have
dictated. My apologies to the Captain.

The only reason I brought it up was to make the distinction between
potentially life-saving decisions involving only one's self, and those
involving others. Personally, I wouldnt call help for myself unless I had
exhausted all other possibilities and was faced with certain death or
equally unpleasant circumstances. Then I wouldnt hesitate to call. And I
dont allow cell phones within 50 feet of my kayak or backpack.<G>

Regarding the situation that I found myself in, I have since found out that
although both persons were wearing drysuits, one had no insulation
underneath! So a seemingly innocuous situation could easily have developed
into a tragedy. Only days before, someone nearly died after only 35 minutes
in the water. Of course its not my responsibility to make sure that other
people use better judgement, but I would feel resposible anyway if I could
have done something to help. Also, the other person involved has told me
that he wouldnt want help called for him under any almost any circumstance.
Thats fine, but he wasnt alone out there. I agreed never to call help for
him unless I changed my mind and decided to do so. As he has never made
much effort to learn rough water boat handling skills, I wouldnt feel the
slightest bit guilty. I'd rather have him be alive and pissed off, than be
pissed off at myself for the rest of my life. I'm sure some people could do
it with a clean conscience but I'm not one of them. I suppose if wants to
kill himself afterwards thats his business, but I'm not going to help.


Wayne
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Received on Mon Sep 28 1998 - 09:59:57 PDT

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