RE: [Paddlewise] Achilles Heel of Sea Kayaking Safety (in defense of pig-headedness)

Duane,

I tried a SOT with thigh straps at a symposium a few years ago
and liked it (don't remember the make or model), but the reason
I stick with my closed-cockpit boat (Romany) is that it is
a wonderful playboat. It turns very fast if you edge it steeply,
and it rolls so easily it almost rolls itself. I've paddled it
in rough seas and in great play spots such as Deception Pass
(WA) at max flow. To get more playful, you'd have to go to a
whitewater boat, which wouldn't make sense for sea kayaking, at
least not if you're going to cover any distance.

True, closed-cockpit boats are not as safe as SOTs when it
comes to getting underway again if you fall out, but we should
allow choice in the world. If someone wants the playfulness and
maneuverability of a sea kayak, he should be allowd to choose it
instead of the safer SOT. I don't know if you are joking when
you suggest that closed cockpits be banned (don't we have enough
govt regulations?), or their manufacturers be sued (isn't America
litigious enough?), or the boats destroyed as phallic symbols
(what's wrong with phallic symbols? :-).

And what's wrong with a bit of dogma? I believe in the dogma
that man is born free to do what he likes even if it's foolish.
I smoke every now and then (though I don't enjoy it and think
it's stupid) just because I'm pig-headed and don't like the gov
and various superior types telling me Tut-tut I shouldn't.

But wait, maybe pig-headedness should be outlawed too!

:-)


-----Original Message-----
From: owner-paddlewise_at_paddlewise.net
[mailto:owner-paddlewise_at_paddlewise.net]On Behalf Of Strosaker_at_aol.com
Sent: Sunday, October 29, 2000 9:20 PM
To: paddlewise_at_paddlewise.net
Subject: [Paddlewise] Achilles Heel of Sea Kayaking Safety
<snip>
Why are so many of us paddling these kayaks with dangerous closed cockpits?
Why have we allowed the dogma of this huge safety design flaw to exist?  Why
haven't closed cockpits been banned by laws?  Why haven't the families of
victims of closed cockpits filed class action lawsuits against the
manufacturers?  Why haven't we denounced closed cockpit kayaks as macho
phallic symbols and destroyed them so that we can all be safe?
<snip>
Duane
Bored on a Sunday night
and not looking for a SOT yet!


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