In a message dated 10/1/99 8:19:23 AM Pacific Daylight Time, dmccarty_at_us.ibm.com writes: << My impression is that at the higher rapid levels IV+ the chance of random death is very high in white water. I define "very high" as I ain't going there! Or on a III rapid either. 8-) >> Me either. Class II in a kayak or open canoe is fine with me. Flatwater is wonderful too! BijiliE *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
BijiliE_at_aol.com wrote: > > In a message dated 10/1/99 8:19:23 AM Pacific Daylight Time, > dmccarty_at_us.ibm.com writes: > > << My impression is that at the higher rapid levels IV+ the chance of random > death > is very high in white water. I define "very high" as I ain't going there! > Or > on a III rapid either. 8-) >> >From my reading of various mags and that newsgroup, the deaths in WW tend to happen at both ends, i.e. beginners in Class I-II stuff and real expert paddlers in Class IV-VI. The first kind are people falling out of rafts or just totally inept or ill equipped with no technique developed yet. The second kind is just the luck and the greater challenge the experts are setting for themselves. If they miss a certain line on the river, or fail to eddy out before some dangerous spot, or the hydralics have changes a bit or new log strainers have positioned themselves on the river, ALL or ANY of that can do in the expert. I think it was either last year or the year before when about a half dozen top-flight paddlers got killed in WW episodes and it was written up in various magazines. The paddling pedigree of these guys was outstanding but just a split second timing failure did them in. I think that in seakayaking you are not (knock on wood) seeing the top-flight paddlers getting hurt or killed. You are seeing however the beginners or the completely uninitiated getting hurt or killed. Incidents like some painter or repairman at a Northeast seashore vacation home in March grabbing a kayak that has been sitting around in a shed and taking it for a quick paddle sans PFD, skill, cold water gear, etc. and flipping the boat and drowning or dying from cold water exposure. Or some moderately skilled paddlers on a multi-day trip pushing their luck by going out in rougher water to make some sort of timetable rather than just camping out a few more days until conditions improved. That woman who died in Greenland last year was in that category although other things were involved too, which have already been discussed on PaddleWise. For the most part, seakayaking is not thrills driven or challenge focused in terms of risk taking. Most of the paddling isn't of that nature. And for the challenging stuff, the paddlers in question are generally prepared such as the Tsunami Rangers in their surfing rock gardens, etc. Still there is so much of it and with lots of people unawares taking it up. The other day, as night began to descend, I saw a couple in a Sevylor Tahiti using an umbrella to get some wind as they left Pier 25 (just south of the Boathouse). They were gorgeous looking individuals, and the light-skinned Afican-American in the front seat looked like a model whose face plasters the fashion pages. There was just one paddle and the umbrella. It was getting dark and they did not have lights nor PFDs. As they went out the current caught them and they drifted down toward the busy run of ferries going in and out of North Cove. They were oblivious to the danger to themselves. Meanwhile I was fretting for my own little serendipitiously put together group, three kayaks. One person not too experienced. We were all PFDed but I had just two lights with me and I was being very cautious in our paddling plans, i.e. no intention to go out across the river nor toward the busy ferry lane and trying to figure out what to do with just two lights. (I finally settled on keeping one unlit kayak between the two with lights and hugging the pierheads and only going a half mile or so. I did a lot of head swiveling all that time.). I assume the uninformed beautiful people in the Sevylor got back safely but not because of any smarts, just sheer luck. It is going to run out at some point for them and any of us. ralph diaz -- ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Ralph Diaz . . . Folding Kayaker newsletter PO Box 0754, New York, NY 10024 Tel: 212-724-5069; E-mail: rdiaz_at_ix.netcom.com "Where's your sea kayak?"----"It's in the bag." ----------------------------------------------------------------------- *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.4.0 : Thu Aug 21 2025 - 16:33:03 PDT