Re: [Paddlewise] "Water Stable" boats

Mark wrote:

<snip>

> Has any body out there heard this "water stable" terminology.  It worries me 
> that this would make people think the boats can not turn over.  You may not 
> be able to roll these boats, but I think its very important to know and 
> practice self-rescue in these boats.  This coming from a Parks and Wildlife 
> person who said she also guided was a little worrisome to me.

These boats are essentially small decked canoes, and few if any people
practice self-rescue in canoes. Given the sheltered waters they're used
on, so long as the users wear PFDs I think they're safe enough. Should
they actually tip these boats over they'll do an automatic wet exit.

What worries me more is the great number of people I see in rented
canoes and recreational kayaks wearing no PFD at all-whether or not they
can swim. A few months ago a woman paddling the Huron river fell out of
a canoe she was paddling with her boyfriend and child  drowned right
next to the boat. This happened in a pond upstream from a dam where
there's almost no perceptible current.

The canoe rental places toss a couple of PFDs in the boats, hand them
paddles and turn them loose. We call these canoists "pinball boaters"
for the path they describe down the river. 

(A few weeks later  I met an 'experienced' kayaker near there who
advised me not to use the sprayskirt on my Feathercraft because "it was
much too hot today"... )

-- mike
---------------------------------------------------------------
Michael Edelman   mje_at_spamcop.net
http://www.foldingkayaks.org (nomadics)
http://www.findascope.com (choosing a telescope)

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