you said: Not making excuses for the kayakers but it's possible they may have been "surprised" by the winds... -------------- I still have a hard time understanding, or perhaps comprehending, why recreational paddlers venture out without adequate forecast information (unless they are purposely looking for challenging conditions, with due experience). The incident also, in my mind, demonstrates once again the notion that a double kayak is a liability in the hands of untrained paddlers when conditions marginalize or deteriorate beyond skill levels. In this case, it was double jeopardy, with the remaining paddler unable to negotiate the bigger double in order to coordinate rescue. I may be missing something here, however. With the unusual wind activity this fall, things are really churning up around Vancouver Island (lots of fishboats sinking). We have had a few paddle incidents again. The latest one was both fortunate and unfortunate. A sea kayak was found bouncing around off the Victoria (Oak Bay) waterfront in some very nasty conditions (I didn't even go out). A very expensive two day search ensued, until finally the paddler whose kayak had been BLOwN OFF HIS DOCK noticed it missing (alerted by the news report of a drifting kayak the next day). The CG was not impressed, and pleaded with paddlers to put some identification in or on their kayaks or canoes. At least no one was actually missing in this case, though the tone of the news story suggested the Coast Guard wanted to "kill somebody". :-) 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/ ***************************************************************************Received on Tue Dec 11 2001 - 12:54:56 PST
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