Experienced a very disconcerting situation this weekend while practice-towing my son for the first time. Not certain if it was equipment failure or procedural error -- so I'll let my friends on Paddlewise decide! Location: Lake Martin, Alabama Kayak towing: NDK Explorer Kayak towed: CD Solstice ST Towing rig: Salamander Keel Hauler [ http://www.planetarygear.com/S3/showdetl.cfm?&DID=11&Product_ID=559&CATID=16 ] Weather: Sunny with 8-12 knot winds Water conditions: Choppy [wake waves plus wind] Sequence of events: Released the carabiner and rope from the keel hauler and hooked the carabiner to the eye-plate deck fitting where the bow's grab-handle is attached. [The fitting is about five inches down the deck off the boat's nose and secured by two screws.] Once the carabiner was attached correctly I started to slowly paddle away. Everything seemed to be working fine -- rope was fully extended, bungie attachment kicked in and kayak was under tow with just a bit more paddling effort than usual. After about four minutes of cautious towing, the rope went slack when the carabiner somehow came off the eye plate. I assumed I had failed to attach it correctly -- somehow. Paddled back to the boat, reattached the carabiner carefully and got on with the towing process. Within a minute, the carabiner detached from the eye plate again. I couldn't believe it! Way too Houdini-like for me!!! Exasperated, I hooked it up a third time and managed to complete a 1.5-mile tow without incident. Needless to say to this situation really bothered me. What if it had been in a life-threatening predicament with a one-time chance to tow out of it? A damned shame if injury or loss of life had been the outcome. Which brings us back to the important question: Was it equipment failure, procedural error or both? I carefully checked the eye plate and carabiner -- neither were damaged in any way. I can only surmise that, due to the chop and boat rock, the spring-loaded carabiner managed to open up and then slip out of the eye plate -- as amazing as that may seem [at least to me]. That being the case, options to prevent this from happening again are: replace the OE carabiner with a carabiner equipped with a twist-lock mechanism; replace the OE carabiner with a D-ring type; use a different connection point [deck line or grab-handle rope]; or replace the carabiner and use a different attachment point. I have my thoughts on each option, but I don't want to bias the list. Suggestions? Jim Tynan Pike Road, AL BTW -- Called Salamander today to discuss what had happened. I'm sorry to say the rep I spoke with didn't seem to really care. His only comment was that this was the first time he'd ever heard of such a thing happening -- nothing else. [Of course, I was hoping he would at least suggest the use of a different carabiner.] *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
One suggestion: don't use spring-locking carabiners for safety operations. Tom Joyce ------------------------------------------ The information contained in this e-mail message may be privileged, confidential, and protected from disclosure. If you are not the intended recipient, any further disclosure or use, dissemination, distribution, or copying of this message or any attachment is strictly prohibited. If you think that you have received this e-mail message in error, please delete it and notify the sender. *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
From: "Jim Tynan" <jim.tynan_at_home.com> > Which brings us back to the important question: Was it equipment failure, > procedural error or both? I carefully checked the eye plate and > carabiner -- neither were damaged in any way. I can only surmise that, due > to the chop and boat rock, the spring-loaded carabiner managed to open up > and then slip out of the eye plate -- as amazing as that may seem [at least > to me]. Spring loaded carabiners can easily be opened if not under constant load. All you have to do is get the rope (or in your case, the thingy you called an eye plate) to cross the gate and then pull. Given that you had chop etc, it's not surprising. You would probably do well to go to a locking carabiner. Or tie knots. Mike *************************************************************************** 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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