(Back on PW again...twice as big, twice as ugly.) I participated in a paddlefest this weekend on Vancouver Island. The weather was poor (pouring!?) with strong winds from a low pressure trough sweeping over the island. Attendance wasn't spectacular. Andree Hurley was up from Warshigton State covering the ACA model, fellow PW'er Kirby Stevens was hocking his excellent Coast Recreational maps (I have all of them, love 'em - want more coverage), and Dave didn't punch me out - God bless him. I could have been on a week long CRCA course, the first of its kind in western Canada to introduce a BCU style national scheme into Canada, but I elected to remain a "free agent", not bound by rules and politics, and so I gave a lecture on loading kayaks at the PF instead -- including, gear, outfitting boats, safety and layout, etc. I notice paddlefests don't have the same "punch" and sense of wonderful expectation by the participants as they used to a few years ago. Not sure what your experience is with them of late in the good ol' USA. Anyway, I was in everyone's face as usual about tethers, VHF radios, cell phones, flares, CG minimum safety requirements, etc. I always feel guilty giving these talks, as most are non-tech newbies, or not even paddlers at all, and there is always a little bit of a shocked look on faces when I mention how dangerous the dynamic sea can be and bring out the gear. The people who ask me to do these talks are trying to sell as many boats to as many people as they can, I'm sure, and want a "balanced" presentation -- not melodrama. A newsmagazine reporter interviewed me a bit later for a follow-up piece, and concurred with me that I was doing the correct thing. The reporter mentioned that she had heard that the Coast Guard Aux., who were giving beach support, were actually called away to a real rescue. It flew over the top of my head. I found out today that the CG have been looking for a kayaker missing in Georgia Strait since this past Friday. Details are sketchy, but it would appear an older man was attempting to kite sail his boat from Lesquiti Island to Comox - a fair crossing exposed to wind and tide (one of the well know deadly combination area's on our coast -- I've been in the ferry when it broadsided and we all saw deep sea-green on the heeled-over side through the window, barf,barf). The kayak was found upright, kite deployed, paddler missing. The kayak had drifted into an area near Cortes Island, they figure, after he fell out. No sign of him as of Monday night. Someone gave me a number of a man fitting his description a few weeks ago. He wants to circumnavigate the Queen Charlotte Islands, and regularly crosses Georgia Strait with his kite and kayak. I'm in the process of trying to convince him to poke out of QC City instead, and explore the west coast in chunks, rather than commit to a long run around. He is not highly experienced, and cannot roll. My heart raced when I heard the news about the missing kayaker today, thinking it could be this man. I phoned him immediately, but it wasn't him -- he was fine, and has been more cautious since talking to me, and was really paying attention to this recent incident I had just mentioned. (He still isn't sure about the QC's). Anyway, that's what kind of day I had. I've talked to the CG at length about the missing kayaker, and will follow-up with SK magazine if they want the story (there have been a few sailing fatalities while kayaking, and the issue needs coverage in my opinion, so I'll be a good boy and hang on to all the other details I have so far. If anyone has any further information about the incident, please let me know via back-channel, or whatever. I feel better about preaching the hard-line safety-tech talk now - though it is unfortunate it takes tragedies for me to feel better about myself and tether articles and other such things that I preach the gospel about, but are often non-conformist to established sea kayak training regimes and the proclivities of many instructor trainer types involved with these germane schemes. Geesh I'm weird! BC'in Ya Doug Lloyd *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
Mr Doug Lloyd wrote: > > Anyway, I was in everyone's face as usual about tethers, VHF radios, > cell phones, flares, CG minimum safety requirements, etc. I always feel > guilty giving these talks, as most are non-tech newbies, or not even > paddlers at all, and there is always a little bit of a shocked look on > faces when I mention how dangerous the dynamic sea can be and bring out > the gear. The people who ask me to do these talks are trying to sell as > many boats to as many people as they can, I'm sure, and want a > "balanced" presentation -- not melodrama. I know how you feel regarding giving a long string of safety advice to newcomers. They look at you as if you have just told them there is no Santa Claus. I feel like Scrouge or the Grinch Who Stole Christmas. (I still vividly remember talking to some inexperienced people about having paddled without cold water gear--while I was donning mine--and their looking at me like I was some old meanie.) Many manufacturers don't want to hear or, better stated, don't want their potential customers to hear it. The situation is changing though. I see more and more paddlers who are paddling in late Spring around here actually starting to wear cold-water gear where a year or so ago they would not have. Cold Water Lectures here in the tri-state area, the latest by the NY Kayak Company last fall, have begun to change things. Still you see paddlers going off into conditions they can't handle. An example, on Sunday here. Winds were howling bringing up the effective speed of currents on the Hudson to around 4 knots (I am judging by eyeballing). Some people first set out to paddle against it, thinking they would make enough progress to go up a few miles and then fly back. But the speed of the current stopped them cold. They then decided to cross the river but didn't seem to understand ferrying angles (I was watching from a pier) and were sideways to the current. The pair got quite separated and were not really in boat control (You are in boat control when you can go where you want to go at a reasonable speed of progression). All it would have taken was a good ferry angle (whether precisely right or not) and they would have gone across together and in control. ralph diaz -- ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Ralph Diaz . . . Folding Kayaker newsletter PO Box 0754, New York, NY 10024 Tel: 212-724-5069; E-mail: rdiaz_at_ix.netcom.com "Where's your sea kayak?"----"It's in the bag." ----------------------------------------------------------------------- *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
ralph diaz scriv: > I know how you feel regarding giving a long string of safety advice to > newcomers. They look at you as if you have just told them there is no > Santa Claus. I feel like Scrouge or the Grinch Who Stole Christmas. Yes, it is a little daunting. Sometimes the "safety lecturers" just seem like unpleasant people who have some axe to grind. But all it takes is one bad experience to make one realize the truth in their warnings. I was MOB once from a sailboat in Long Island Sound in the last week of November. The remaining crewmember could not return to pluck me from the water (he didn't know how to turn the boat around !!! - he had misrepresented his skills to me, and I was stupid enough not to have gone over everything with him). There are very few people on the water in Eastern LIS that time of year. I was in the water about 30 minutes before being rescued by some guys in a skiff checking markers for the nearest channel. By the time they got to me, I couldn't lift my arm to grab their boat. I was probably less than a minute away from drowning. I had been back and forth two or three times from the point of not caring any more. It's a funny thing that takes over, where you just are ready to give up. I couldn't climb into their boat and they had to hold me on the side of the boat and motor back to the yacht club. They deposited me on the docks and I sent them back out to try to retrieve my boat (and crewmember, who had by now at least managed to stop the boat). It was about an hour before I could move. I had to have help getting out of my clothes. . . . . Well, I hate to whine or complain. That's not what this is about. Just that -- ralph and others: please keep up the vigil. Those of us who are new to the sport need to hear it from people we respect. I've gone over once in a kayak in (for me) rough water, and it was a whole lot more work than I had expected to get everything back right again. A whole lot more work. And that was only a few feet from shore (in Penobscot Bay). Just rambling. Mark *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
<delurk> Here's my first post to paddlewise. At the risk of stating the obvious, here's my comments. Mr Doug Lloyd writes: > <snip> > the gear. The people who ask me to do these talks are trying to sell as > many boats to as many people as they can, I'm sure, and want a > "balanced" presentation -- not melodrama. > > <snip -story about missing kayaker> > > I feel better about preaching the hard-line safety-tech talk now - > though it is unfortunate it takes tragedies for me to feel better about > myself and tether articles and other such things that I preach the > gospel about, but are often non-conformist to established sea kayak > training regimes and the proclivities of many instructor trainer types > involved with these germane schemes. Geesh I'm weird! Perhaps the hard line talk can be mitigated by stating that the gear and preperations are relative to the situation. While the sea is mighty fickle, my experience of inland paddles is that of a gentler sort. If the concern is to not scare new paddlers from the sport, steer them towards lake and calm river paddles. Show how levels of gear and preperation are appropriate for an increase in the risk/challenge of a paddle (esp as you cross from lake to inlet to open ocean). ---------------------------------------------------------------------- snark_at_tulgey.org aka Glen Acord http://www.tulgey.org/~snark if ($snark eq "boojum") {vanish("softly","suddenly")} *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
Glen "delurked" and said: >>Here's my first post to paddlewise. At the risk of stating the obvious, here's my comments.>> Glad to hear from you Glen! Mr Doug Lloyd writes: > <snip> > the gear. The people who ask me to do these talks are trying to sell as > many boats to as many people as they can, I'm sure, and want a > "balanced" presentation -- not melodrama. > > <snip -story about missing kayaker> > > I feel better about preaching the hard-line safety-tech talk now - > though it is unfortunate it takes tragedies for me to feel better about > myself and tether articles and other such things that I preach the > gospel about, but are often non-conformist to established sea kayak > training regimes and the proclivities of many instructor trainer types > involved with these germane schemes. Geesh I'm weird! >>Perhaps the hard line talk can be mitigated by stating that the gear and preperations are relative to the situation. While the sea is mighty fickle, my experience of inland paddles is that of a gentler sort. If the concern is to not scare new paddlers from the sport, steer them towards lake and calm river paddles. Show how levels of gear and preperation are appropriate for an increase in the risk/challenge of a paddle (esp as you cross from lake to inlet to open ocean).>> This is generally the line I take with newer paddlers, or those thinking of getting into it. We are fortunate in our area, as lots of tour guides are available, as well as lots of sheltered water. Unfortunately, new paddlers are often told to stay close to shore, and you will be fine. One of the areas I love to paddle on a big tide is just a few feet off the Victoria waterfront, near a golf course in Oak Bay. I was giving this example I'm about to give to you, to a friend recently, when they immediately understood what I was saying. They had been out for a walk near the golf course, when they heard a terrible, mighty roar. As they walker further, they could not believe the sight before their eyes. The tide was moving so fast, only a few feet from shore, and horrendous overfalls churned everywhere. A paddler came around the corner here just last year, and hit this area with no warning. Fortunately a whale watching operator picked the fellow up out of the water after the paddler bailed. The point is, you are not safe just staying close to shore. This isn't even a gear issue. I ran a report in SK a while back about another fellow who capsized further out off Trial Island, near this same area above. He had been lake paddling for the most part, and had stayed safe up until that point. He opted at the last moment that day not to do the lake thing, and headed out to sea and almost lost his life. I agree that lakes are a great place to start -- smaller lakes, no tide, keep near shore. Good advice Glen. As far as my mentioning feeling weird (per my above post you included), I was a bit sensitive at the time over the tether issue. I had ran an article in SK magazine about tethers and taken a bit of heat about it from the ACA and CRCA types. I know tethers are a controversial issue. My SK article wasn't meant to be a wholesale proscription for everyone to tether everything, including themselves to their boats. I was simply trying to indicate in some logical manner, what some of the options were, why one might consider the use of certain tethers, and what some of the pitfalls are. I run in to people out on the water with all kinds of dangerous tether arrangements. It is de facto that people are using them, so why not provide some clarification and information so people can weigh the pros and cons more appropriately. As it turns out, Audrey Sutherland wrote a letter to the editor at SK supporting certain notions about tethers, adding others, and thanking me. I only recently got my copy. I felt a bit better after that, as I never got a chance to respond to a previous letter in SK criticizing my article indirectly. Some of the stuff Audrey wrote had been cut from my article, which was more icing on the cake for me (not meant as a put-down to SK, stuff always gets cut for brevity, etc). The reality however, is that tethers can be dangerous under the wrong conditions, and much thought must go into their use. (And whether the kayaker who died using his kite to sail would have been better off with a tether, I do not know. I am working with the Comox Coroner's office, collaborating on a report. The coroner also requested a copy of my SK article.) That is one of the reasons I exclude my self from teaching and coaching. I've been told by instructor trainers that I overwhelm students with too much info regarding all the pros and cons of various gear, boats, etc. I guess I like to tell everyone, every option and every kind of way to do certain things. One can't do that with new paddlers. Guys like Rob Crookson and others on this list probably know how to stimulate interest, deliver appropriate info, convey necessary detail - all without overwhelming the student. That is a great skill to have. Happy paddling Glen. If its wet, paddle it, pond or otherwise! BC'in Ya Doug Lloyd *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
Hi Doug and All, > -----Original Message----- > From: owner-paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net > [mailto:owner-paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net]On Behalf Of Doug Lloyd <Big Snip Of All Substance> > Guys like Rob Crookson and others on this list probably know how to stimulate > interest, deliver appropriate info, convey necessary detail - all > without overwhelming the student. That is a great skill to have. Doug I appreciate the kind words and the blind faith in my abilities as an instructor, but would like to point out that my last name is Cookson as in son of Cook not Crookson as in son of the crook. ;>) Take good care of that back. I can relate. The last time I really screwed up my neck believe it or not was folding laundry. Yep I reached to pick up a sock and wham, total spasm zero range of motion. I hate it when that happens! Cheers, Rob Cookson (son of cook, baker actually) *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
> Take good care of that back. I can relate. The last time I really screwed > up my neck believe it or not was folding laundry. Yep I reached to pick up > a sock and wham, total spasm zero range of motion. I hate it when that > happens! > > Rob Cookson (son of cook, baker actually) > Hi Doug, Rob, and all I threw my back out a couple of years ago just by reaching for the shampoo while in the shower. Of course, X-rays showed my spine looking like a pretzel and there had probably been numerous injuries previous to the shampoo incident. Numerous visits to a chiropractor got the pain down to a manageable level, but believe it or not, a few hours of paddling takes it all away. At least for a few hours. I suspect that most of my neck and back problems are stress related and paddling the antidote. On a similar topic, I've been noticing recently that after anything more than an hour in the boat, I get some pain and stiffness in my left inner thigh around the groin area. I've readjusted my footpegs many times but it doesn't help. I have far less rotational ability in my left arm than my right, and am wondering if this is mirrored in my lower body. Any ideas anyone? -Nick Von Robison (son of Robin, at some point in the past) *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
At 05:31 PM 05/19/2000 -0700, Nick Von Robison wrote: >believe it or not, a few hours of paddling takes it all away. At least for a >few hours. I suspect that most of my neck and back problems are stress related >and paddling the antidote. Now that's the truth. Just getting away from blinking monitors and looking at a bit of reality for a few hours is a real cure for many ills. The pain that bugs me most is my heels. After about 3 hours in the kayak (whether or not I take long breaks) my heels really begin to ache. I paddled 15 NM on Saturday (Tomales Bay, CA) and towed a tired paddler for over a mile and my heels hurt, not my arms or shoulders. The pain usually goes away in the time it takes to load the gear into the car. jerry. *************************************************************************** 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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