Re: [Paddlewise] PFDs in surf

Phillip wrote:
<snip>


>Years ago, in winter on Lake Ontario, I did wind up swimming involuntarily.
>I had been knocked over and had wet exited. This was in my pre-paddle leash
>days, and by the time I had surfaced, the wind had snatched my empty and
>buoyant sea-kayak far out of reach (it made shore with no problem, and way
>ahead of me). Anyway, on that day, some weird conjunction of wind and wave
>meant that I got caught being endlessly "cycled" a few hundred feet
>offshore. The incoming wave would throw me forward a bit, then the ebb
>would take me back to where I had been. Even in my wetsuit, the water was
>very cold, and the situation was no joke. The solution turned out to be
>taking the dive knife off my ankle - one of those Rambo jobs, but with a
>pry end rather than a point. I would ride in on the ingoing wave. In the
>brief lull I would dive - fighting the buoyancy of the PFD, which was less
>in fresh water than it would be in salt - and plant the knife in the sand.
>I would hold with both hands as the outflow ran around me, then surface to
>begin the cycle again. It only took ten or so such cycles before I was in
>water shallow enough that incoming waves no longer knocked me over.
>
>Anyway, one experience, any others out there?
>
>Philip T.
>

you were lucky. years ago i mounted tripod towers in Lake Ontario. plan 1
was to use steel stakes to hold guywires in place. however the bottom was
not sand, it was flat rock! so i went to a mountain climbing store and got
pitons... sand near shore, was good for you.

while there in early december, i experienced 43 degree water for extended
periods in a wetsuit. cold is real. for me, wetsuits don't get it below 50
degrees...fortunately i did not get a winter job diving in one of the NY
finger lakes, i didn't really want to wear a drysuit for diving. dry suits
for kayaking are bad enough.

your surf landing saga is quite interesting.

bye bye bliven


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