Chuck asks: <<<< How long were the two Victoria victims in the water before one went under and the other was rescued? >>>> <snip> There were two reports on the immersion time: one stated 10 minutes, another 30 minutes. From what I can gather, the first fellow went unconscious within 5 minutes - very peculiar. Perhaps he had a coronary complication. Don't know, as body is headed for Alaska below depth (dang, no PFD, no coroner's exam). The survivor was probably in the water 15 minutes or a bit more, as a guess based on video evidence and second hand reports. (So, 30 minutes or so minutes in metric is about 15 :-) ) Add a little alcohol in the system, wear jeans, and bail out of your recreational kayak on purpose and swim the the aid of a dying friend, and I suppose hypothermia doesn't take long. I don't know the weight of the survivor, but his profile looked slim on the TV. I can't see cold shock being prevalent with 50 degree F water, but you never know (as far as the guy who died is concerned). BTW, from the picture in the paper, the kayaks looked like the ones sold at Canadian Tire here in BC. As a matter of interest, I was commenting to a sales girl just recently when I saw one hanging from the pillar how dangerous these craft could be if used beyond their intended function by folks with no real kayaking experience. I got a blank stare. Maybe I was out of line. But Canadian beer, cheap plastic kayaks, and guys with balls bigger than their brains. Not a good combination. Anyway, the Canucks just trounced the Redwings and the world is a happy place right now!!!!! *************************************************************************** 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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