Re: [Paddlewise] When in Rome do as the

To KiAyker

Maybe there should be a law to make you wear your PFD, helmet, and sp*ns*ns
everytime you kayak ;-)  Actually, I couldn't agree with you more but I do
hope as an instructor you are setting a good example for your students. I'm
afraid some of them may decide they want to look like a kayaker who depends
on skill rather than equipment, before they develop the skill.
I believe in safety but I also believe in being comfortable so I am not
going to wear clothing that won't allow me to paddle at an exercise pace
without overheating unless there is a serious threat to my safety if I
don't. In otherwords if I'm just a little bit safer but trade away a lot of
comfort to get there that's not a trade I'm willing to make. Same goes for
the cost of equipment, one looks at the cost/benefit ratio. I'm for
everybody choosing their own level of acceptable risk but I hope paddlers
understand the risks. To many times I hear things like "My boat is wood, it
floats so I don't need extra flotation", or "I don't plan to capsize". These
paddlers need education so I'm all for those who promote their own favorite
safety methods and talismans as long as they aren't really making themselves
or their followers less safe.
Hyperthermia is less common than hypothermia because usually you can do
something about it, often as easy as slowing down or wetting yourself down
in some way. I spent much of a 14 mile kayak race one 99 degree day taking
strokes where I dipped my hand in the water and splattered myself regularly
by scooping and flipping water on my head and torso with my last three
fingers as I took a stroke. If I was wearing a drysuit this would not have
worked. Still I always had the choice of slowing down it was only a race.
However, there are times when one might not have that choice and the drysuit
wearer will be at greater risk. Say you are approaching an island after a
long crossing and you find that the current is sweeping you past the island
and out to sea (or better yet into a vast area of breakers it a tide rip).
There is no way I could paddle as hard for any distance with a drysuit on as
without. With a drysuit I would be faced with making the choice to paddling
hard and risk heat stroke or slowing down and risk hypothermia and then
drowning (even in the drysuit) as the result of capsizing in the tide rip.
Drysuits have caused me to miss my roll because of being floated up to one
side, but I think I have that bugaboo licked now. Still paddling solo and
using "rotary cooling" to cool off in a drysuit cold end up putting the
drysuit wearer in the water due to a failed roll. The cooler "underdressed
for the water temperature"  paddler of equal skill who didn't have to
capsize to cool down might be in less risk here. Lets keep discussing the
risks and comparing notes but if somebody doesn't make the same choices as
you try to see their point of view.
Matt Broze
http://www.marinerkayaks.com

-----Original Message-----
From: KiAyker_at_aol.com <KiAyker_at_aol.com>
To: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net <paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net>
Date: Friday, August 06, 1999 9:46 PM
Subject: Re: [Paddlewise] When in Rome do as the


>   We've been through this all before. But what the heck;
>
> Tomckayak_at_aol.com writes:
>
><< Very Southern Calf.
> I think I know why no one signed up for your trip:) >>
>
>   This is precisely the type of response I was anticipating when I wrote,
>"Most sea kayakers cannot reliably roll or perform self rescues. That does
>not mean that those of us who can should be condemned to the constant
>ridicule of our fellow paddlers because we have taken the time to build on
>our skills to the point of being able to rely on them rather then on the
>equipment."
>
>Tomckayak_at_aol.com again:
>
><>
>
>   Since you are not taking any chances I must assume that you always wear
a
>helmet as well????????????
>
>Outfit3029 writes:
>
><<If ever I am paddling a backwater creek, get knocked unconscious and
thrown
>out of my kayak after being struck by a personal watercraft doing 60mph, I
>will be more than happy to give you proof.>>
>
>   Again, since one never knows when this all too common occurrence might
>happen, I must once again assume that you ALWAYS wear a helmet when
>paddling!!!???
>
>Shoni writes:
>
><>
>
>   Obviously, for the sake of your family, you ALWAYS wear a helmet when
your
>in your kayak. I mean, one can never be too safe. You have to be on the
>constant lookout for those rouge jet skiers, and rocks on the bottom, other
>out of control kayakers in waves and surf, and who knows what else! And of
>course it goes without saying that if you have ever taken any kids along
>kayaking they are ALWAYS wearing helmets as well. It doesn't matter what
kind
>of kayaking we are talking about, or where we are paddling, since even in a
>swimming pool it's possible to fall out of the boat and hit your head on
the
>side.
>
>   Come on people, grow up! I'm all for safety. I really am! But we each
>accept our own level of risk. Some of us apparently do it better then
others.
>If I choose to paddle without a drysuit or a pfd, that's my choice. I
>consider myself to have a fairly high degree of skill, and more
importantly,
>good common sense. I have NEVER been in what I would consider a life
>threatening situation, because I avoid them. You have to asses your own
>abilities and make your own decisions accordingly. If you judge yourself by
>what I do then your an idiot! That is not to say that what I do is wrong! I
>know what I'm doing! I grew up on the ocean. I have been teaching kayaking
>for about ten years now. I have been paddling for over thirty years. I
>practice constantly. I try to teach my students to err on the side of
>caution. But one does not have to ALWAYS wear a drysuit/wetsuit/pfd/carry
>flares/carry radio, etc., etc. I've said it before, and I'll say it again,
>the kayakers greatest strength is in one's good judgment and common sense.
>It's NOT the skills or equipment, but what you do with them.
>   If you feel that you always need to wear a drysuit --- then you probably
>do. And if you DO need to always wear a drysuit, then I really hope you
>always will. However, just because YOU need it does not mean that I do. I
>realize there is a fine line here in trying to determine which one's are
>genuine and which one's are accidents looking for a place to happen. I
>certainly agree that we should encourage EVERYONE to wear
>wetsuits/drysuits/pfd's. After all, if you have to ask, then you probably
>aren't skilled enough/experianced enough/smart enough to go without.
However,
>I like to think that the people on this list know enough to recognize that
>there are some of us out there who really do know what we are doing, and we
>should not be chastised for it.
>
>Scott
>So.Cal.
>
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