[Paddlewise] Safety Tether

Gary said:
<<<Does anyone on this list use safety tethers to tie themselves to
their kayak?>>>
<snip>

Gary,
I'm on the digest version so I don't know if anyone replied to you yet.
My take on tethers is too practice long and hard in real-life conditions
in rough water, on a safe lee shore, with competent paddling partners -
practicing wet exits with full retention of your boat and paddle (a
paddle tether is okay). Once you can master keeping your kayak in hand
without in blowing/down-washing away, then use boat tethers judicially,
where and when appropriate.

The better tether systems incorporate a number of features, including:
they should be easy to deploy and release, they should be  as
tangle-free as possible, and perhaps serve more than one function. Chris
Duff has a well-thougth out tether, using 1" webbing that goes from the
front of the kayak (bow grab-loop) back to a belt with quick-release
that sits under the front bungy cords. This is out of the way when not
in use, and can be put on readily when the need arises, yet if a wet
exit entails, the line will not interfere with re-entry. As an added
benefit, you can swim-tow your kayak if needed.

I like systems that do double duty. A pig-tail with carbiner attached to
a short (or long) line that forms the basis of your tow system can be
clipped to your deck lines to negate separation in those instances where
loss of kayak would be a disaster. This type of tether fall under the
"Audry Sutherland school-of-double-duty" philosophy.

I wrote an article for Sea Kayaker magazine a while back on the subject,
and have tested and researched the issue well, as well as written safety
articles on paddlers who died after boat loss, including kayak sailing.
Tethers are controversial, but should not be automatically dismissed
out-of-hand due to their potential benefits. Regardless, tethers remain
a risk vs. reward issue that repeats itself here on Paddlewise.

Doug Lloyd





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