>> Although I consider myself a fairly strong swimmer, the swiftness of the river made it very difficult to get to the shore, especially with rapidly failing muscles (due to the freezing water). I'm guessing that I was in the water for maybe 5 minutes (??). The PFD helped by letting me rest just a bit between efforts to swim to the shore and by reducing my fears of drowning a bit (a not-insignificant point, IMHO), and probably held a little of my upper body heat in. If I had had to worry about staying afloat as well as swim with all my might towards the shore, I might not have made it. Evan >> ************************************************************************** * As long as we are talking stupid here <g>, I once swam across a fairly narrow river (maybe 100 feet) in early May without a PFD. Maybe two- thirds of the way across, I started to lose my strength, so I flipped over on my back for the remainder of the swim, which was easier for me. By the time I reached the far side, my legs were so stiff from cold that I could barely climb the bank. I survived that time without a PFD, but it was a good lesson in how quickly cold water can debilitate a person. Normally when I kayak, I am a lot farther from the shore than 100 feet! Chuck Holst *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
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