-----Original Message----- From: Peter Treby <ptreby_at_ozemail.com.au> >>Around here, paddle floats are viewed as being a joke not worth having. Despite that, I have made a couple, and carry them to help fill up the cockpit volume beside my legs. I wonder if anyone on the list has successfully used a paddle float / outrigger rescue after an unexpected capsize in rough conditions. Real life experience in "combat" conditions is worth a lot of theory. Best regards, Peter T.<< We have actually heard of 3 different people using the paddlefloat rescues, and the most recent incident involved someone who has advanced paddling skills. He was a former student of ours who had moved to Hawaii. He was paddling solo out to the Mokulua Islands off of Lanikai Beach on Oahu, one of the Hawaiian Islands. I don't remember if he was using his Mariner Express that day or his new Feathercraft. He found a channel through the reef and when he was returning through the channel, he capsized and missed 2 or 3 roll attempts. After he wet exited and checked that he was drifting through the channel safely, he took the time to set up the paddlefloat and smoothly performed a self rescue in 3-4 foot swell, winds about 10-20 knots. The other 2 stories that we remember were instructors who had used their paddlefloats early on in their careers. One of them is 6'6" and had been paddling solo in Deception Pass, Washington, early on in his kayaking days. He was wearing street clothes and fishing by himself on a nice calm day. Conditions deteriorated, he dumped, used his paddlefloat. He wasn't able to get himself completely back in but he was able to lay across his kayak with his feet on the paddlefloat until someone else helped him out. Deception Pass is a chilly place (maybe 45-50 degrees) to swim without any thermal protection, he felt that the paddlefloat had saved his life. Even if he wasn't able to complete the rescue in the choppy current that he found himself in, it got him out of the water. The other one, we can't remember the details on, just that someone else had used it successfully enough to want to go out and teach it to others. We know of Western Sea Kayaker club member who used 2 paddlefloats to support a seasick member through 4-6 foot seas at Pt Lobos, Monterey, California while towing him to shore. If you are alone with someone who is too seasick to stay upright this is one option to get them to shore. No joke, we have our students practice them in all our classes at every level from first time beginner through advanced open coast rock gardens and instructor certification workshops. In our classes we've seen them work in a variety of sea conditions: tide rips with 3- to 4-foot breaking seas and 6- to 8-kt. currents, regularly in winds to 20 knots and once in 40 kt. gusts, ocean swells over 10 feet. We think they are an excellent "fall back" rescue for someone who has missed a roll, who is paddling alone, or whose paddling partners have also capsized. But they will only work in rough water if you have practiced them in rough water. Roger Schumann & Jan Shriner ESKAPE Sea Kayaking (831) 427-2297. Web Page: http://www.eskapekayak.com authors of Guide to Sea Kayaking Central and Northern California *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ *************************************************************************** *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
Joan Shriner and Roger Shumann wrote: "We have actually heard of 3 different people using the paddlefloat rescues, and the most recent incident involved someone who has advanced paddling skills...." Thanks for some real life feedback. I am inclined to carry the two paddlefloats I have made, just as some insurance against failure of quicker and better rescues. A party of four paddlers from here recently crossed from Victoria to Tasmania across Bass Strait, island hopping and taking, I think, about 13 days. A couple of days in, one paddler was ill, vomiting and incapable of holding himself upright. He required a double tow for a couple of hours, with another boat rafted up to keep him stable. God help a solo paddler in that situation. Or maybe, two paddlefloats help such a paddler? Several of the keener local paddlers are critical of them, and I have not noticed anyone other than me with them or practising re-entry with them. Practice to date has been in mild water temperature conditions, and wind waves to 1 metre. Based on this, paddlefloat rescues would be very difficult in breaking seas or any rougher conditions. In due course, I want to fit some homemade sponsons (sorry to use such language on this list) and try those. I am wondering if sponsons could be made which do not require customizing to a particular boat before use. Very hesitant to raise this thought on paddlewise, given the strident evangelism to be found at the Georgia Bay Kayak Co. website. Best Regards, Peter T. *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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