[Paddlewise] Boat leash approach

Hi all,

Reviewing the archived thread on leashes got me thinking, and I'd like to
hear other people's perspectives. I fear some things that are good ideas on
a sailboat may not be appropriate in a kayak. I know each person must weight
the risks they are willing to endure and act accordingly.  To me, leashing
to the boat on a windy day seems to make a lot of sense as without a boat
you ain't goin' nowhere. If you have a boat you need a paddle, so I'd leash
either my primary paddle or, perhaps better yet my spare paddle to the boat.
Intending to hold onto my primary I can dispense with the paddle leash and
it's attending issues, but the back-up would be available if I couldn't.
Perhaps I could even paddle with the back-up to the floating primary and
retrieve it too once I'm sorted out, but it could be hard to find.

To minimize the entanglement threat, I'm going to borrow the tether from my
storm harness from the sailboat.  It's a six-foot length of webbing with a
wire gate carabiner on one end and a snap shackle on the other. The biner
goes to the boat, the snap shackle to the paddler - perhaps to a strong
point on the PFD.  The harness itself could even be worn if you were
knowingly heading out into a blow.

The snap shackle has three large red beads threaded onto a short line that
is attached to the shackle pull.  The beads prevent snagging and provide
something to grab when pulling. By design the snap shackle can be easily
released when under load, and it opens to such an angle that it releases
whatever it was clipped around.

I carry a small dive knife on the shoulder of my pfd, but rather than take
the time to find the knife then find the thing to cut and try not to cut
anything I don't want to cut (like myself) the snap shackle is always in the
same place and once found and pulled the tether is loose.  Of course if
tangled up the knife is still available.

Comments?

Fair winds,

Carey
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