RE: [Paddlewise] Victoria fatality

From: Dave Kruger <dkruger_at_pacifier.com>
Date: Tue, 16 Apr 2002 09:28:44 -0700
Doug Lloyd wrote:

> The story ran for a few minutes and was reasonably well balanced. The
> newscaster emphasized that the kayaks were recreational models not
> intended for rough water ocean paddling. The camera cut to Ocean River
> Sports and commentary from the owner, Brian Henry. He again emphasized
> that these recreational kayaks were intended for lake paddling in
> pond-like conditions, and the best way to deal with trouble in this type
> of kayak is to simply stand up and walk to shore, which obviously means
> one shouldn't be using this type of craft out from the shoreline. Brian
> also emphasized the point that recreational kayaks are not sold with
> floatation, as they are not intended to be used where sinking would be
> an issue (or something like that).

He actually said that?  Hard to imagine renting any watercraft without enough
flotation to allow reentry and bailout.  Canoes, skiffs, etc., need that.  A
recreational kayak can sink in 7 feet of water, and there won't be any "walking
to shore" from there.  Not many lakes are as uniformly shallow as 4-5 feet.  In
any case, try "walking" to shore in 4 feet of cold water ... even swimming to
shore in cold water could be a trial.

They put flotation in the recreational kayks rented locally.  Sprayskirts, no.

-- 
Dave Kruger
Astoria, OR
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Received on Tue Apr 16 2002 - 09:29:08 PDT

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