[Paddlewise] Hyperthermia

Here's a little story that relates to two of the threads going on
currently - overheating and PFDs:

A friend of mine wanted to do a personally challenging 20+ miles solo paddle
from Phuket Island to Phi Phi island (OK, it's pronounced Pee Pee... the "h"
is silent).  Anyway, he had trained extensively for this trip.  He's one of
those paddler who usually wears a PFD, even in the heat.

To make a long story short, he left before sunrise during the non-monsoon
season.  That means the weather is going to be rather warm with very little
wind.  He landed on Phi Phi and vomited!  He felt horrible.  He took his PFD
off on the way across the crossing.  I don't really know if he would have
made it if he'd have kept the PFD on.  He told me that he doesn't think he
would.

I think that a PFD is always a good idea in cold water.  The big difference
in warm water is that you can stay in the water for a long time without
suffering from the water temperature.  You don't loose your strength due to
heat loss.  BTW, so far, I've never become separated from my kayak.

Because of the heat and the pain that my buddy went through on his crossing
to Phi Phi, I decided to do it at night.  Jean-Philip and Luke of CASKE2000
http://www.caske2000.org/caske.htm were training for their trip with me at
the time.  The heat simply wasn't an issue.  Plus, it was absolutely
magical.  There were storms all around us all night and we saw a waterspout
at daybreak!  (when we left Phi Phi, there weren't any storms in sight. We
would have waited had we seen any storms)

Cheers,
Dave Williams
paddler_at_loxinfo.co.th
http://paddleasia.com
Phuket, Thailand

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