ralph said: <snip> I recall seeing discussion of a self-evaluation point system somewhere. Basically, you take various variables of paddling conditions against your own preparedness in terms of skill, gear, etc. You score yourself on these and come up with a figure. If the figure of risk is too high, you then either lower the risk elements of the paddling conditions or you add to gear and skill to compensate for it. Some of these charts seem pretty arbitrary, and frankly, people who prepare them tend to lay the system out in a way that supports their kind of skills and type of boat. <snip> Some of these rating systems are better than others. The most effective use of these rating systems is to the new paddler, who upon reading over one, may indeed realise just how many variables there are to contend with at times. One thought where other paddlers are present is a cognitive model, and derives from 4 variables: 1. Environment 2. Experience Level 3. Group Dynamics 4. Rescue Equipment If you draw a cross hair, and place each item above at the end of each line, you have the model. Draw a small circle in the middle. If each piece of the pie is equal, you are in the safe zone. You can expand the circle, but must keep all factors equal. However, as the circle expands, the situation isn't as tight. A sudden storm, a weak paddler, a dead battery in a VHF radio, can all cause the circle to burst. I should go to bed now. Doug Lloyd *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
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/ ***************************************************************************
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