Re: [Paddlewise] Safety belts and/or towing ??

From:           	Peter Osman <PeterO_at_ambri.com.au>
To:             	"'paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net'" <paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net>
Subject:        	[Paddlewise] Safety belts and/or towing ??
Date sent:      	Thu, 27 May 1999 19:13:35 +1000

> 
> I've wondered for 8 months (the sum total of my kayaking experience) if the
> safety harness strategy used by yachties applies to kayakers. i.e is it a
> good idea to connect yourself to your kayak via a line onto a belt when
> venturing into rough or isolated water. 

Conventional wisdom will probably indicate that you don't want to 
tether yourself to your boat, Peter --- the Greenland incident 
notwithstanding; there were a lot of other problems with that 
scenario in addition to what you sited.  

We've bashed around the paddle leash issue on this list a lot in the 
past, but I don't think we had the same consensus on that --- either 
using one at all (generally thought advisable in heavy weather, but 
not universally even there), whether attaching the paddle to the 
paddler's wrist or PFD, or attaching the paddle leash to the boat.  
There are opinions on everything on this list, and you'll certainly 
hear some of them.  Essentially, it boils down to an assessment of 
the value of retaining the paddle vs. the risk of entanglement in the 
leash, and there really aren't any universal answers.

But you combine an issue of towing with tethering, and that's a 
different deal, entirely.  There are a lot of suppliers of quick-release 
belts with tow rigs on the market, and many PFD manufacturers 
are integreating tow rig accomodations into their systems --- for an 
example, take a look at stuff on the Lotus Designs site 
<http://lotusdesigns.com/products.html>.  Tow rigs are relatively 
simple to make, as well, but make sure you have a good quick-
release cam on the belt with an easily identified toggle to activate it.

Jack Martin
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