<<The real issue here is the sequence of decisions and judgements these individuals made to get on the water in obviously (to regular paddlers) challenging conditions. Would their situation have changed in more sea worthy craft? It seems unlikely. The real issue in this situation is NOT flotation but judgement and skill. Michael Pardy>> We may be talking about somewhat different issues. The accident we have been discussing already happened, and the person who died will stay dead. I am more interested in finding a practical way to give the next potential victim a better chance to survive his inexperience and become a kayaker. Unfortunately, many new owners of recreational kayaks will not be educated about kayak safety and many of them will not be wearing their PFDs when they capsize. The one thing we can be sure will be there when they capsize is the boat. If the boat has enough flotation built in to keep the person afloat it could buy him time enough to be rescued. The boats that are sold now will not sink, but they also will not keep anybody afloat. I know I am proposing to save somebody from his own stupidity, but is that really such a bad idea? Alv Elvestad *************************************************************************** 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 Thu Apr 18 2002 - 09:17:37 PDT
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