Re: [Paddlewise] Helping a new paddler?

Tom,

I apologize if my first reply seemed a bit harsh.  You should be commended
for being a good ambassador for the sport we all love.   

As I see it, safety is an extremely important issue, and essentially boils
down to risk assesment.

First of all, one must understand what the risks are in order to accurately
evaluate those risks.  Failure to do so can be fatal, as is frequently
demonstrated by the annual "accident reports" that are posted to various
online forums describing paddlers going out in conditions in which they are
not properly dress or prepared as far as experience necessary to paddle
safely under those conditions. 

Once one understands the risks, however, it becomes a matter of being able
to assess the risk, and determine for yourself whether you're sufficiently
prepared to paddle safely, based on your evaluation of the risk.  That
includes wearing the correct attire, correctly assessing your skills, and
even predicting the weather.

In the case that you described I felt that, you did your job in educating
the new paddler of what the potential risks were, but perhaps over
estimated the risk.  The phrase "it's better to be safe than to be sorry"
is often appropriate but in some cases,  the risk just isn't high enough to
warrant every possible safety precaution available.

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