Tom wrote: snip > > I now have a large carabiner clipped to the grab loop. > Lets hear your near death experience. I agree with Steve - lose the 'biner and put something less lethal on the grab loop. No near death experiences to report, but what could have been a very painful and debilitating injury. It was a beautiful, warm sunny day on the eastern shore of Lake Michigan. The west winds had created nice 4 foot waves and I was keen to try paddling out through breaking waves for my very first time. I'd read the books, visualized how I was going to "punch" through, and now I had the perfect conditions. A sloping sandy beach with waves breaking _right_ on shore. (I would now term these as Dumping waves) So I got setup, started to push the bow out into the water and as soon as the I started to float - Boom!, I'd get turned sideways and end up back on the sand. After numerous and determined attempts (30-45 minutes)managed to break through the two waves and was actually paddling! I had about 50 yds of breaking waves to paddle through, but I soon broached, dumped, and wet exited. So there I was, hanging onto my paddle and the cockpit of my kayak washing back towards shore - everything was under control....until my backside hit the sand in the shallow water - and the kayak rolled upright and filled with water - and I was struggling to stay in control of things - and I forgot (fatigue is a BAD thing) that I should not be _in front_ of the kayak as the waves pushed it up on shore - and then a very heavy and hard kayak rolled over my shoulder/back/head/ and finally over an outstretched arm. I thought that I was going to have a broken arm in that brief moment of panic as the yak crushed me into the sand but there was nothing that I could do at that point. It was a stupid mistake - I knew better. I had been paddling whitewater for several years and knew much about the force of water against boats, but I was so TIRED that I wasn't paying attention. Could have been a very bad scene, but I was lucky. Dave Seng Juneau, Alaska *************************************************************************** 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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