Re: [Paddlewise] a thought on rescues

Richard Walker wrote;

(SNIP)


>Thats certainly an accomodation for this shortcoming, and I often
>wear a full dive skin anyway.   But it is a problem that does not
>exist in the SINK.   The less skin surface area I have exposed to
>the ocean and sun, the better I feel.

Many feel that way. Since one can cover up anyway it seems that how one
does it reflects personal prefernce not any inherent advantage or
disadvantage of a type.

(SNIP)


>Yes, there are special SOT's which can do neet things.  Surf skis
>are another specialized SOT example.    I'm not particularly
>interested in such comparisons, as I'm not likely to buy a Tsunami
>or a surf ski.   To be honest, I need to see the specs for the
>Tsunami before I could say anything about its usefulness for the
>various things that I do from a kayak...  I know the surf ski would
>do some of my tricks very well, but others it would suck big time.

Failed to make myself clear. The point I tried to make had to do with how
an SOT could be fitted to do hoild you in the boat. There is nothing
inherent in teh SOT concept that prohibits such rigging. Not sure how one
determines that a boat won't do something without having tried it.

(SNIP)

>I need to be able to store a 60" x 5"x 2" object and be able to
>remove it from the boat while still sitting .   I know of no SOT
>currently made which will handle such a task.  The typical solution
>is to secure such a thing on deck; and most people are
>comfortable enough with that fix.  I'm not.

Failed to make myself clear again. I tried to point out that an SOT with
that kind of storage could be built not that one existed.



>This all seems like ways of taking the wrong tool and jury-rigging it
>in order to do the same tasks as the correct tool is able to do by
>original design.

Please define what the correct tool does and its characteristics and then
we can discuss how an SOT can be designed to accomplish those task plus
provdie added safety, ease of boarding etc.

(SNIP)

>If one carries adequate life insurance, the survivors will have little
>need to risk time and money looking for a deep pocket somewhere.

You must not be a lawyer.

>Besides, I doubt if any kayak manufacturer has deep enough
>pockets to really tempt the personal injury lawyers.

Most carry extensive liability insurance.


 >And based on our boating culture down here, its unlikely that you >could
find a jury willing to hold a kayak manufacturer responsible, >even if
there was something glaringly wrong with the boats...   >"What!  You mean
this idiot went out on saltwater without a pair of >outboard engines?? Why
are we wasting our time here!"

You may not be familiar with the case against an outfitter because the
outfitter failed to post lifeguards along a whitewater river. They settled
out of court at great expensed to the outfitters insurnace comapny and
outfitter.

"What, you didn't know that there were no lifeguards along the river?" Hey
stick it to them. It's their fault not the poor stupid paddler.


(SNIP)

>The only way people die in kayaks down here is from being
>seperated from their boat.   This seems more likely to occur in a
>SOT.

Why?



How bout just pee over the side, we are talking OCEAN here; not
some delicate river system.

AH yes, I notice you are from Texas. ;-) In Canada we aren't so well
endowed. In fact, even our women can't manage it. Damn I wish I were a
Texan.:-)

Cheers,
John Winters
Redwing Designs
Specialists in Human Powered Watercraft
http://home.ican.net/~735769/

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