Re: [Paddlewise] Tides & Currents

Yes, it did.  It hurt many people, for Duncan was a very special person who
had touched many lives.

He was an experienced inland wilderness canoeist (and for many years was
president of the Wilderness Canoe Association), but was inexperienced at
kayaking and ocean paddling.  He was at a resort on the south side of the
island, where he came upon a kayak rental on the beach.  He rented one and
went for a spin, so he had no understanding of the local conditions, and no
proper equipment, water, etc.  The conditions were pleasant, with some
waves out from shore.  His wife described him bobbing along and, as he got
further out, disappearing from sight between the waves.  There is a
possibility that he was dumped in these waves, but this does not explain
his disappearance.  The consensus is that he ended up in the ocean current
(either in or out of his boat), heading for Africa, and air-sea serches
were mounted to that effect.  It looks like he had enough technique to
paddle into trouble, but not enough experience with salt water ocean sea
kayaking to have avoided troube in the first place.

Richard Culpeper
www.geocities.com/~culpeper

----------
> From: Sisler, Clyde <Clyde.Sisler_at_wang.com>
> To: 'Paddlewise' <paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net>
> Subject: RE: [Paddlewise] Tides & Currents
> Date: Tuesday, January 26, 1999 9:33 AM
> 
> One of my friends, Duncan Taylor, while in view of his wife on shore, was
> swept out to sea while kayaking at a beach in Maurtius.  Despite an
> intensive air-sea search, no trace of him was ever found.
> 
> --------------
> 
> That must have freaked his wife out.  What kind of skills and wind & wave
> conditions?
>
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