[Paddlewise] Safety belts and/or towing ??

Jack,

I'll think again before tethering myself to the Klepper but will try making
a tow belt for the time being, until I work out which swim vest meets
Australian maritime requirements. The website you provided opened my eyes to
what is available - thanks for the advice.

PeterO

>> 
>> 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. 

Jack Martin said:-
>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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