The juneau daily news is reporting that Ken struck his head on a submerged rock while teaching a student how to roll. According to the report he came out of the kayak and told the student he was o.k.. He then got back in the boat to paddle to shore when he flipped and did not roll up. With two heated swimming pools in Sitka I am not sure why he would be teachings rolls in 46 degree water, so it may have been a spur of the moment thing. Also that area does have large tidal flats with scattered rocks. It is easy to get fooled on how deep the water is there. It may take me a couple of days but I will try to get some exact details and find out what did happen. My contact in Sitka was unavailable this evening. Bob *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
I was guessing the same cause. I do not know what Ken was wearing although I know he did sell dry suits but only minimum hood protection. (basically neopreme ball caps) I plan in a couple of days to call back to Sitka and see what the autopsy revealed. I will let you know since this could happen to any of us. The water temps in Sitka this time of year tend to be in the 40's Bob -----Original Message----- From: skimmer_at_mail3.enter.net <skimmer_at_mail3.enter.net> To: revkayak_at_mtaonline.net <revkayak_at_mtaonline.net> Date: Saturday, November 10, 2001 6:49 AM Subject: Re: [Paddlewise] tragedy in Alaska Revrend Carter, You may know that I study cold water kayaking accidents in the eastern US, and have done so for about 20 years. We run cold water paddling clinics. We ran one last Saturday. I would greatly appreciate your finding out a couple of bits of information about the death of Mr. Shaffer. What was the water temperature. I assume he was wearing a wetsuit or a drysuit. Key question! My bet is that Mr. Shaffer was not wearing a hood. Can you find out if Mr. Shaffer was wearing a hood and nose clips when he did his rolling? Cold water in the ears can cause vertigo- total loss of orientation. We have had many paddlers, normally skilled at rolling, report that they were forced to bail out after capsizing due to utter disorientation. One fellow actually had no idea what happened after coming out of his boat. Cold water on the exposed head can cause immediate loss of consciousness. We have a number of cases of winter paddlers being found hanging beneath their boats. Thanks, Chuck Sutherland e-mail: skimmer_at_mail3.enter.net phone: 215-453-9084 From: "Rev. Bob Carter" <revkayak_at_mtaonline.net> To: "paddlewise" <paddlewise_at_paddlewise.net> Subject: [Paddlewise] tragedy in Alaska Date: Sat, 10 Nov 2001 00:10:45 -0900 At this point I only have scetchy details but Ken Schaffer the owner of Biadarka Boats in Sitka died thrusday while paddling in Sitka. It appears that Ken suffered a medical problem of some sort. He was only a couple hundred feet outside of one of the boat harbors in Sitka. He was with some others paddlers when he decided to practice some rolls. He did a couple sucessfully but then on his last attempt stayed under for a while. When he did roll up he was coughing up water and posibility blood. He said he was o.k. and the group headed back to the harbor. Ken then flipped over and did not roll up. The harbor master anwered the distress call but Ken could not be revived. All this happened within a half mile radious of the coast guard station, the boat harbor and the hospital. Ken bought Biadarka Boats about a year ago. He had been a diary farmer in Vermont when he saw and add in a magazine (Sea Kayaker I think) about the Sitka kayak shop for sale. He said it was a dream come true to move to Alaska. Though he was a novice at kayaking he was able to expand the boat shop and was very liked amid the kayaking community of Sitka and southeast. He was single but I believe did have family back east. with sorrow Bob *************************************************************************** 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/ *************************************************************************** *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
Just picked up the weather for that day in Sitka. Water temperature was about 46 degrees. Winds about 15mph and a light rain. The accident happened inside the breakwater so waves were not a factor. Bob -----Original Message----- From: skimmer_at_mail3.enter.net <skimmer_at_mail3.enter.net> To: revkayak_at_mtaonline.net <revkayak_at_mtaonline.net> Date: Saturday, November 10, 2001 6:49 AM Subject: Re: [Paddlewise] tragedy in Alaska Revrend Carter, You may know that I study cold water kayaking accidents in the eastern US, and have done so for about 20 years. We run cold water paddling clinics. We ran one last Saturday. I would greatly appreciate your finding out a couple of bits of information about the death of Mr. Shaffer. What was the water temperature. I assume he was wearing a wetsuit or a drysuit. Key question! My bet is that Mr. Shaffer was not wearing a hood. Can you find out if Mr. Shaffer was wearing a hood and nose clips when he did his rolling? Cold water in the ears can cause vertigo- total loss of orientation. We have had many paddlers, normally skilled at rolling, report that they were forced to bail out after capsizing due to utter disorientation. One fellow actually had no idea what happened after coming out of his boat. Cold water on the exposed head can cause immediate loss of consciousness. We have a number of cases of winter paddlers being found hanging beneath their boats. Thanks, Chuck Sutherland e-mail: skimmer_at_mail3.enter.net phone: 215-453-9084 From: "Rev. Bob Carter" <revkayak_at_mtaonline.net> To: "paddlewise" <paddlewise_at_paddlewise.net> Subject: [Paddlewise] tragedy in Alaska Date: Sat, 10 Nov 2001 00:10:45 -0900 At this point I only have scetchy details but Ken Schaffer the owner of Biadarka Boats in Sitka died thrusday while paddling in Sitka. It appears that Ken suffered a medical problem of some sort. He was only a couple hundred feet outside of one of the boat harbors in Sitka. He was with some others paddlers when he decided to practice some rolls. He did a couple sucessfully but then on his last attempt stayed under for a while. When he did roll up he was coughing up water and posibility blood. He said he was o.k. and the group headed back to the harbor. Ken then flipped over and did not roll up. The harbor master anwered the distress call but Ken could not be revived. All this happened within a half mile radious of the coast guard station, the boat harbor and the hospital. Ken bought Biadarka Boats about a year ago. He had been a diary farmer in Vermont when he saw and add in a magazine (Sea Kayaker I think) about the Sitka kayak shop for sale. He said it was a dream come true to move to Alaska. Though he was a novice at kayaking he was able to expand the boat shop and was very liked amid the kayaking community of Sitka and southeast. He was single but I believe did have family back east. with sorrow Bob *************************************************************************** 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/ *************************************************************************** *************************************************************************** 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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