Jim wrote: >I vote for Safety Wonk although the "inside the beltway" definition of Wonk is >not flattering. Well, why not be a safety guru instead? The second time I went out on the sea in a kayak, it was with five other relative novices and an experienced paddler with British Canoe Union qualifications who was giving us informal lessons (for free, bless him). This was in the North Sea (Highlands of Scotland), in May. After about an hour of paddling in fairly benign conditions, our instructor had us paddle to within about 50 yards or so of shore (with a very light onshore breeze and flood tide); then told us we should all take turns about doing a wet exit, re-enter with his help, and then paddle straight to shore. I was wearing warm fleece and pertex clothing, but no wetsuit or drysuit. I duly did my wet exit, no problem, and with help managed a quick re-entry. Then I paddled to shore. By the time I was out of my kayak on dry land, I was shivering uncontrollably and my hands were nearly useless. Getting my car unlocked and dry clothes on was only just manageable without help. Our instructor told us all afterwards that the real lesson he wanted to teach us was how quickly hypothermia can set in (I don't know the water temperature that day, but it was certainly not as bad as it can be in these parts, and the wind chill was negligible). I have never forgotten that lesson. All my paddling in Scottish seas is now done in a wetsuit. So forget safety wonks (whatever that means: the nearest word in Scotland to that is really rather rude!). I go for safety gurus (and anyone can be a guru to someone else, often without realising it): you tell it like it is, you pass on your personal knowledge and experience, and if possible you help people to get that experience themselves in a safe way. And then you let them decide for themselves. After all, you can take a horse to water, but you can't force it to wear a wetsuit. *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
----- Original Message ----- From: "Nick Reiter" <reiter_at_fodderty.u-net.com> > turns about doing a wet exit, re-enter with his help, and then paddle > straight to shore. I was wearing warm fleece and pertex clothing, but no > wetsuit or drysuit. > I duly did my wet exit, no problem, and with help managed a quick > re-entry. Then I paddled to shore. By the time I was out of my kayak on > dry land, I was shivering uncontrollably and my hands were nearly > useless. Getting my car unlocked and dry clothes on was only just > manageable without help. My first time in a kayak was while getting lessons from Chuck Sutherland who contributes to Paddlewise. It was a lake 35 miles from NYC in mid-September. I was wearing polypro tops and bottoms covered by a nylon jacket and pants while we did wet-exits etc. in the morning. By the time we broke for lunch I was quite blue. Chuck looked at me and reached into the pile of stuff in the back of his van to pull out a ratty looking neoprene farmer john wet suit. "Could you use this, Ralph?" At that point I would have traded my first born for that thing! Again this was not the North Sea as your experience nor NYC harbor in January among ice floes but rather a lake just the last swimmers had departed after Labor Day. Needless to say that the next week I went with my wife to nearby Campmor to buy wet suits. 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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