Re: [Paddlewise] JFK Jr. and Risk Taking

You are only risk taking when you know it is a risk, otherwise you are just
out having a good time. Most people who go out kayaking are just having a
good time, the idea that there might be some risk involved never crosses
their mind. On a nice sunny day there is nothing to suggest that you might
be taking your life in your hands. If we could sue the creator for lack of
addequate safety warnings, I'm sure it would already have been done. I
expect the good Prof. Inverbon has a transcript of the litigation in his
archives.

The beauty of many risky sports is most of the time you can get away with
ignorance and still survive.

Some endeavors appear more risky than they are. Flying a plane is probably
a prime example. Flying is pretty safe, it is the taking off and landing
you want to avoid. I doubt we will learn what caused JFK Jr. to go down.
Maybe it was failure to properly assess circumstances, but even the best
trained, most experienced and conservative "experts" in any skill will make
mistakes. I expect  John Jr. was not much different from the rest of us. He
wanted to get somewhere and he didn't feel like changing his plans.

We have all been in this situation before. We have all done things
hindsight suggests were not smart, but we survived. In many cases the
experience taught uas how to do it right and help us learn what are limits
are. We were lucky and we benefitted from the fact that the worst does not
always happen. JFK Jr. is just a guy whose cards fell the wrong way.
Unfortunately for his family, he happened to have been famous. Now they
will have to listen to the world second guessing.

Nick


At 11:08 AM -0400 7/19/99, WILAX_at_aol.com wrote:
>I had an interesting experience with risk taking this weekend.  However, in
>retrospect it is not "risk taking" at all it is "lack of knowledge" or the
>"ignorance is bliss" problems.
>
>Two friends came into town and wanted to borrow my kayaks.  Both are
>extremely athletic.  Neither had any kayaking experience.  One should have
>known even better as he is a merchant ship officer with years at sea.  To my
>horror, I turned around to see them push off without life jackets (stowed
>under their feet).  They proceeded to cross boat traffic inn the bay and I
>lost sight in the haze.  It was a bit choppy and I worried the whole time
>because neither had a clue how to do a rescue.  Well, they came back fine,
>loved kayaking, blah blah.  I smacked them both.
>
>Why do I say this?  They had no clue of the problems they could encounter.
>No Clue.  Surprisingly, I have learned a lot of what not to do from NTSB
>death reports.  When I was still running  ships I read them religiously, this
>guy got crushed, that guy got burned, that ship exploded, this one crashed,
>another one sank with all hands etc.  Morbid stories but they are thoroughly
>investigated and you learn a ton of "I never thought of that" things.
>Articles in Sk magazine help that as have some of the tales on this list.
>You cant really anticipate what you will encounter until you allow yourself
>to be educated.  Until then you are happy and ignorant.
>
>Flying a new plane, without an instrument rate license, at night, with 2-3
>miles visibility closing?  Everything probably seemed fine, low risk, but
>when you read a lot of NTSB reports on plane crashes, there is an
>overwhelming number attributed to inexperience ie. ignorance is bliss.  Was
>that the problem on Friday night?  It is not our position to speculate at
>this point but I bet the small plane pilots out there will learn something
>when they finish the investigation.
>
>Unfortunately, it was another night  helos and C130's flying over my house
>and you knew someone wasnt going to be at the dinner table that night.
>
>Tom
>Rhode Island
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Nick Schade
Guillemot Kayaks
10 Ash Swamp Rd
Glastonbury, CT 06033
(860) 659-8847

Schade_at_guillemot-kayaks.com
http://www.guillemot-kayaks.com/

>>>>"It's not just Art, It's a Craft!"<<<<


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