Doug Lloyd wrote: > > > Footwear - Please avoid the temptation to wear rubber boots when > paddling. Treat sea kayaking as an in-water activity. If you must wear > rubber boots (which do admittedly add a wonderful level of convenience > to the paddler), scale way back on the levels of risk you are willing to > take. The report I'm working on regarding the paddler who died crossing > Georgia Strait recently with sail, well, he was found dead still wearing > his big rubber boots). > So what was the problem with the boots? If you wind up in the water and your boots fill up, then while you are still immersed, the water in your boots weighs......nothing! At work we had water safety exercises every couple of years, so I have had plenty of practice at swimming in calf length gumboots and swimming in chest waders (down rapids too). Swimming in laced up work boots with steel toecaps is more difficult, it pays to take them off. Nobody should be put off by the warning that "your boots/waders will fill with water and drag you under!" Utter bovine excrement - I hope you were not implying anything along that line Doug. Something that is possible, is to put on a farmer john wetsuit and jacket while you are immersed (provided you are not wearing too much else). Not very practical if you are trying to keep hold of a kayak and paddle though, but it might keep you alive for a few extra hours in cold water. And for something that most people find difficult, and some cannot master at all, try putting your PFD on while swimming. You might decide that it is better to wear it all the time while you are on the water! Allan Singleton who actually wears wetsuit booties on his feet when paddling, rubber boots when gardening. *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************Received on Mon May 29 2000 - 01:34:31 PDT
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.4.0 : Thu Aug 21 2025 - 16:30:25 PDT