Re: [Paddlewise] Sea Kayaker attrition rate

From: Dave Seng <dseng_at_gci.net>
Date: Wed, 31 May 2000 19:53:33 -0800
Nick Von Robison wrote:

> 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?

  I don't believe that anyone has done this for the sport of sea
kayaking.  Charlie Walbridge has been collecting stats on WW accidents
and deaths for years - see: http://www.awa.org/awa/safety/index.html
  If we could get organized even loosely (for some reason the phrase
"like herding cats" comes to mind) it might be possible to start
something similar.  And Paddlewise might be just organized enough to
start something like this up - at least for North America (where PW
seems to have it's widest membership).  I think that when Charlie
started collecting stats that it was outside of the formal organization
of the AWA.  If we could get participation from people all over the US &
Canada we might be able to start something that could someday prove
valuable.  If anyone wants to delve into this further let me know either
online or back channel - it might be a worthwhile venture.  I'm not
volunteering yet - but if there's enough interest - and if Jackie thinks
that it might be a worthwhile PW project for an ongoing effort.......

Dave Seng
Juneau, Alaska
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Received on Wed May 31 2000 - 20:53:42 PDT

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