Jolie wrote: > Pity to see remarks, like those of the 70 year old man, published in the > newspaper. I wish those with severe water-phobias would keep it to > themselves, so as not to influence other, responsible people who might be > thinking of taking up kayaking, and get scared off. Good point, Jolie. I agree sometimes folks not acquainted with sea kayaking regard us as nutso! Having paddled that area (Cayo Costa State Park, Cabbage Key, etc.), I can understand where the 70 year old man is coming from, though. Lots of folks down there have a very casual attitude about paddling. The area typically has warm water in summer, but winter waters can be quite chilly. A year ago two "experienced" sea kayakers starting a long trip dumped a double their first day and drowned, almost surely because of hypothermia. We paddled in late January, 2001, and were the __only__ paddlers around in farmer johns, despite water temps in the 50-55 F range. I suspect the 70's guy is just describing what he has seen. When I rented from an outfitter, they were very safety-conscious, and understood that wind could soon make a mess of the shallow embayments (some have enormous fetches). But others ...? -- Dave Kruger Astoria, OR *************************************************************************** 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 Fri Apr 05 2002 - 11:08:30 PST
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