Last wednesday a guy capsised in deep water and panicked. I saw him struggling to get his head above the surface, without releasing his sprayskirt. Luckily he was on my side of his kayak. If brought my bow close to him, and he managed to grab my bow. After that I told him to relax and breath, and then to take his time to get out of his boat. If he had tried to get to the surface on the other side, I would have had to paddle around, loosing precious seconds. I he was too panicked to grab my bow, I don't know what else I could have done. I have little experience with 'off the shelf' spray skirts, having made my own. My thought is that if a spray skirt needs to be released then perhaps it is not appropriate. If I try to get out without releasing my skirt at the front, then the back will pull free. There is a bit more resistance, but it is by no means enough to stop anyone. (My skirt is nylon with a bungee around the edge) The other thought is on paddling around. A fast exit into the water, then using your boyancy, and that of your PDF could give enough support to get the victims head above water, give a breath and reduce the panic. I believe this would be quicker than paddling around. I'm no expert, but that's my first thought. Warwick Carter *************************************************************************** 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 Mon Sep 17 2001 - 09:06:41 PDT
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