As I was driving back from Washington DC on Sunday night, I started thinking some more about the incident since it was the subject of conversation down there over the weekend and on the minds of many. One thing that came to me were some unwritten, unspoken and even not fully articulated maxims that I have personally for myself. If that fellow had had them too he would probably be okay today. My maxims are (and these are for me, not necessarily for other paddlers): ---Never paddle alone in cold water conditions in a new or unfamiliar kayak. ---Never paddle alone in cold water conditions in waters that you have not paddled before and are not familiar with. I follow this even if weather conditions seem benign and regardless of whether I am clothed to the teeth in fleece and dry suit, etc. The only time I violated this set of rules was, as I mentioned a month or so ago, when I was in Bavaria in 1993 and given a chance to paddle a new model of Klepper ( the first new one in some 35 years) in the same waters where the first Klepper ever was paddled back in 1907. I let my emotions get the better of me (and a big bratwurst and beer lunch by lakeside) and went off, without any safety gear not even a PFD, on the Chemsee which had just weeks earlier been full of ice. If you need to go out in a new boat or into an area you don't know, do it in the company of some other paddlers. Living in the Northeast, I have the luxury of having a fairly extensive season in which the water warms up and so I can paddle alone in boats I am reviewing or explore new waters alone. If I lived in the Northwest or California, I would not have that luxury. 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 - 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/ ***************************************************************************Received on Tue Apr 03 2001 - 07:31:21 PDT
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.4.0 : Thu Aug 21 2025 - 16:30:40 PDT