[Paddlewise] FW: [CPAKayaker] Coast Guard National Boating Safety Advisory Council

Thought maybe I'd post this here also...

Woody

-----Original Message-----
From: owner-CPAKayaker_at_lists.shire.net
[mailto:owner-CPAKayaker_at_lists.shire.net] On Behalf Of Robert Woodard
Sent: Monday, October 11, 1999 5:39 PM
To: CPAKayaker
Subject: [CPAKayaker] Coast Guard National Boating Safety Advisory
Council


I was reading though the minutes of the 63rd meeting of the National Boating
Safety Advisory Council, and found the text peppered with reference to Canoe
and kayaks. I extracted a big chunk of it from the presentation given by
ACA, but the rest of the report had a lot of concerns about canoe/kayak
deaths. This makes me wonder how far regulation is away...

Full text can be found at:

http://www.uscgboating.org/nbsac/63min_final.doc



CANOE AND KAYAK SAFETY ISSUES

Ms. Wing Watson, Director of Safety, Education, and Instruction, American
Canoe Association indicated that the American Canoe Association was founded
in 1880.  It is the largest nonprofit organization that promotes paddle
sports, representing canoeing, kayaking, coastal kayaking and rafting, and
currently has 35,000 members in 180 local affiliated clubs and handles
300-500 sanctioned events.  She said that the mission of ACA is to promote
canoeing, kayaking and other paddle sports as safe and enjoyable lifetime
recreational activities.  She noted that the main theme is education.  At
this point she showed video on the extreme side of canoeing and kayaking.
She indicated that more people are trying it, extending their efforts and
testing their abilities.  She commended the canoe and kayaking industry for
keeping up with the trends to try to make the sport as safe as possible.

Mr. Potter asked if there was anything, including peer pressure at the point
of sale, to prevent a want-to-be from going out and buying that equipment
and trying the extreme stuff.

Ms. Watson said that the ACA wants them to have the right equipment, and
doesn't want to prohibit anyone from getting the any type of boat or paddle
or helmet.  The ACA works with manufacturers, and has a licensing program
where a manufacturer buys memberships in ACA and puts those memberships in
their boats so they can get people in the loop as one way to attack that.

Ms. Ajootian asked if there were any restrictions at rental places in
whitewater areas, and if there were any education requirements.

Ms. Watson said that there were no restrictions for renting, and added that
not many outfitters rent kayaks.

Continuing the presentation, Ms. Watson said that the departments of ACA are
Safety, Education and Instruction; Waterway Access; Law Enforcement; and
Programs and Special Events. The focus is on safety, education and
instruction.  There are 3000 instructors nationwide, instructor trainers and
certification workshops.  There are also books, brochures and videos.  She
then discussed the different types of waters they deal with, i.e.,
quietwater (flatwater), openwater and whitewater, and what ACA does to
minimize risk.  She discussed the safety concerns for all waters including,
how to avoid capsizing; need for PFD wear; and dealing with air and water
temperature, weather conditions and wind.  For openwater, surf zones and
tides and currents are also concerns; additionally with coastal kayaking,
there is a navigation issue. She said that ACA reaches people through clubs,
manufacturers and Web sites.

Mr. Marie said that coastal kayakers can't be seen.  He said it is going to
become a real issue, and possibly a pole with a flag should be a
requirement.

Ms. Watson said that they tell their students to give working vessels the
right of way and also highlight the visibility issue.
She next discussed whitewater, indicating that there are more hazards to
deal with, including swimming conditions, strainers, undercuts, lowhead
dams, holes, entrapments, and pinning.  She said that ACA addresses a lot of
the whitewater issues through swiftwater rescue which is key, unfortunately
not many people take the courses.  She said that there are about 75
instructors certified through ACA.   She said that the ACA rescue course
deals with the equipment they have, and she showed rescue equipment used in
the swiftwater course.  She commented that ACA's "Paddler" magazine covers a
lot of issues.  At this point she showed "Heads Up," a swiftwater rescue
video made under a Coast Guard grant to ACA.  She said that one concern with
swiftwater rescue is working with firemen and rescue squads due to different
philosophies; they have equipment and ACA has knowledge of the river.  She
said that there is concern with more boaters going on rivers now, there are
more people, more accidents.  A study done in 1996 found that 24 million
were canoeing and kayaking.  They also called outfitters and retail stores
and found canoes and kayaks sales up by 14 %.

Mr. Blackistone said that this sport is growing and there are no
requirements for education or flags as for skiers and he had some concerns
about safety in the sport.  He noted that so much attention has been focused
on PWC and power boating.  He said that safety in rental operations and
mandatory education were issues.

Chairman Muldoon said these were excellent points and he would talk about
reactivating the Education Subcommittee.

Dr. Campbell said that the profile of the whitewater participant would be
different from small boat users, and indicated that developing profiles of
different type of boaters would be of value.

Ms. Watson said that there are a wide variety of profiles in her sport, and
developing profiles would be challenging.  One market to target would be the
extreme boater to get them to know their limits.

Mr. Potter said that an immediate concern would be mandatory wear of PFDs,
particularly during cold weather months.

Major Rhinehart asked if there were any statistics that indicate the
difference between accidents and fatalities that occur in floods as opposed
to regular recreation.

Ms. Watson said she had seen some statistics in her organization's river
safety report, but not a lot on floodwaters.

Chairman Muldoon asked where the increased fatalities are coming from.

Ms. Watson said from both ends of the spectrum, beginners and experts
pushing their limits.  She said that ACA has developed new courses to
address this issue, including an advanced whitewater course that teach
judgment skills.

Ms. Sewell asked where ACA gets its statistics.

Ms. Watson said from people who call in, and that a small network of people
input into the statistics.  They need to make more effort, possibly through
an ad in "Paddler" magazine to get input on what is happening out there.

Captain Holmes said that ACA member Charles Walbridge, writes a river
anthology with detailed narratives of accidents.  He said that he has seen
extreme ends of spectrum in these, and they are not complete numbers.

Major Dill asked if ACA has a position on state registration of canoes.

Ms. Watson said that she needs to find out more about the registration
process.

Major Rhinehart commented about dangers of rescues in a flood situation and
noted that an officer was lost in his state last year.

Ms. Watson offered to provide further information, and said there are a
variety of committees.  She recommended the ACA Web site
www.aca-paddler.org.

Chairman Muldoon commented that this is part of boating that is probably way
ahead of attempts to try and regulate it, and it needs to be looked at.

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