[Paddlewise] Sea Kayaker attrition rate

After being on the PW list for the last 6 or 9 months I'm impressed at
the level of sophistication of experienced sea kayakers putting an
emphasis on risk assesement, rescues, self rescues, and the thin line
between life and death in a sport that may be less risky than climbing
high mountains, but still a somewhat risky business overall.  And that
is appropriate considering the naming of the list PaddleWise.

I'm just wondering if anyone has any statistics on what the percentage
of death rate of say, one death per 1,000 sea kayakers is?  It just
seems to me that everyone has a story to tell of a sea kayaker losing
his/her life, whether first or second hand.  How widespread is this?
IOW, how risky really is the sport not in terms of personal assessement,
but real stats?

My presumption is that kayaking deaths are attributable to four main
causes.

1.  Sea kayakers who hit their heads on rocks or sea bottom, rolling in
surf, with or without helmet.

2.  Hypothermia.  Not dressed for immersion temps but for air temps.

3.  Inability to affect a good self-rescue or have a backup (see 2
above).

4.  An existing medical condition (low/high blood pressure, diabetes,
heart problems, seizures, etc.)

I'm just curious if anyone has any information on the death rate of
kayakers versus the usual boating crowd.  While there are a lot of
accidents and deaths among rec boaters due to alcohol, I think it
probably wouldn't be a factor in kayaking.  I have enough trouble
getting into and out of my yak sober!

-Nick




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