Re: [Paddlewise] Victoria fatality and accidents in general

Sadly, over any time span of events and over any selected population of people,
bad things will happen.

Living in view of rocket launches here south of Cape Canaveral, I know that
even the best efforts of mankind are never enough to eliminate risk.

And I also know that in every group of people; paddlers, hikers, pilots,
sailors, etc., there's a bell-shaped distribution of preparedness. There will
always be those that aren't prepared, regardless of our best efforts. However,
we CAN make a difference in the shape of the curve and reduce the number of
people at the bad end of the bell-shaped curve through education and
associations such as Paddlewise and clubs. And a great deal of education is
simply to know one's limits as opposed to learning every possible aspect of a
sport.

In Florida, we've considered various types of boat licensing for years. But
based on the track record with licenses for driving, I don't believe that's the
way to go. Government licensing degenerates quickly into a token effort of
mindless renewals and non-value added taxation; a burden on everyone whose cost
far exceeds it's benefits. (Please don't start a thread about whether I oppose
drivers licenses ;-)

For paddling, a sport that has much of it's beauty in it's simplicity, I hate
to see government bureaucracy corrupt it. I believe education is the key as
opposed to regulation. The Power Squadron courses here in the U.S. are an
excellent example of such a system of education.
--
Al Vazquez
KayakGuide.com tm
         Places to Paddle tm
 - Kayaking - Canoeing - Rafting -

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