Re: [Paddlewise] Current Info on Electric or Foot Pumps?

The debate over the merits/demerits of the "outrigger paddle float
self-rescue" in rough conditions has been an interesting one.  [Shouldn't
we change the name of this thread?]

It has been particularly illuminating to have Matt Broze chime in.  I
suspect Matt is the preeminent advocate for use of the paddle float.  Colin
Calder and Nick Gill, on the other side, have made a very strong case for
the futility of using a paddle float in "rough water," (paraphrasing):  "If
the water is so rough it knocked you down despite your best bracing
efforts, the paddle float won't work."

Advocates of pumping methods which leave the hands free for
bracing/paddling/etc. seem convinced that the paddle float has a very
limited stance in the arsenal of self rescue techniques,  **for the
paddling they do.**  I think they are correct (note the emphasis).

The debate so far has overlooked something:  a huge fraction of sea kayak
paddlers (at least in my part of the world) **never** paddle in conditions
we would call "rough."  At least, never in conditions where (I think) the
paddle float would be a liability.  Rather, they confine themselves to
non-tide-race and non-tide-rip paddling, with only the occasional shot of
nasty chop and a now-and-then landing in small (<3 foot) surf. How do they
do this?  They **stay on the beach** when wind and weather transfigure the
mill pond into a place where their skills are inadequate.

For that crowd (around seventy or eighty per-cent of the paddling
population in the Pacific NW -- too low, Matt?), the outrigger paddle float
self rescue system is a good one.  You might wonder how they fall out of
their craft in such "easy" conditions.  Mostly dumb moves or ungraceful
acts with a paddle blade.  Then they are in relatively placid water, and
the paddle float works well.

I agree, in rough conditions, the paddle float is questionable.  The
reality is that only a small percentage of the paddlers I see on the water
engage the sea in conditions where a paddle float will not work.  The float
is a good choice for them.  It does not "... entice them into conditions
where it won't work," (paraphrasing) because most of them are **terrified**
of rough water and won't paddle in it.  They stay on the beach, or get the
hell off the water when it gets rough.

-- 
Dave Kruger
Astoria, OR
no pump, but thinking seriously about installing one
paddle-float-dependent since 1992
12-step program begins, 2000
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