> Personally, I believe the simplicity of kayaks is more compatible with > an > approach that emphasizes independence and adaptability over shopping for > every conceivable redundancy. > Well put, Mark. I wish I'd said that. I would like to try and take a moment here to put things into their proper perspective. First of all, the bow lift works. So does the reenter and roll. Of course the paddle float rescue has long been considered a standard in this sport. Frankly, if I end up out of the boat (which incidentally never happens unless it's intentional) I simply climb back into the boat from the water, without a paddle float or any other kind of assistance. My boat has a beam of 22.5 inches and yes, I've done it in rough water. But I am probably considered an expert level paddler and I practice all of these things constantly. Now in regards to the question of what the beginner is doing --- I would like to ask what in the #$% is a beginner doing paddling alone in conditions where a self rescue might be necessary in the first place! I teach beginners assisted rescues and I tell them that as a beginner they should be paddling with other people in fairly benign conditions. When asked about solo paddling I always tell people that solo paddling is great, but one must be prepared for the worst case scenario. That is, considering water temp. and distance, they should be able to easily swim to shore. If they go beyond this then they should have several well practiced methods available to them for performing self rescue. Of course, once they have reached this level then I no longer consider them to be a beginner. I think it is beneficial to practice every conceivable type of kayak rescue. But when you get right down to it I have to preach my usual mantra, that far more important then the skills or the equipment in this sport is the ability to paddle intelligently and recognize one's limits. Rather then quibbling over the effectiveness of a particular rescue in a particular scenario I think this group should instead be asking "why is this person in this situation in the first place?" "A man's got to know his limits." Dirty Harry Scott So.Cal. *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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