Peter said( snip): >>>Its funny the things that scare. I'm worried by excessive cold or wind, Jumbo jets and big surf dumping on the shore, but not lightning. Theres something majestic and fatalistic about a storm.<<< I use a large "garden refuse" bag, orange in colour, as a back up emergency cover, but I doubt I'd ever really use one for the purpose you describe. If you are marathon-kayak training and every ounce counts, perhaps. 'I mostly carry it as a back up emergency attention getter, after seeing one so well drawn by Derek 's in one of his sea kayaking manuals. I've never actually tried this in a real bad blow beside my kayak in the water, but it does make a nice illustration. Nevertheless, I've carried one since 1983ish (not the same one :-) ). I carry one garden-variety (excuse the pun) as a spare, and a larger one (and heavier-duty) that is sold by outfitters. Heck, it would make a great body bag for me... Weird humour mode: "Hey Captain, there, off the port bow at eleven o'clock, I bet it's that PIW we were looking for last month, you know, the one off Brooks where we found that skinny kayak adrift." "Okay, seaman, haul'm aboard, use the gaff, then search the remains." "Sir, would you look at this, he's got his own body bag in his PFD pocket, guess we can use it; anyone got a twist tie?." As far as being on the water during a lightning storm, we've been around the block with that one on PW before, with a fair bit of, um, static. I personally get a charge out of being alone at sea during an electrical storm, primarily because of the associated sea states that often accompany such occurrences and other phenomenon (the different aura, etc). We actually don't get that many good lightning shows around here specifically (Olympic Mtns and Coastal Range do). If we do get good lightning associated with cyclogenesis, well, I just want to be on the water if possible. The worst factor -- more than lightning, rogue waves, or drunken PWC operators -- has always been explosive and sudden, severe gusts, which when abrupt, can really wreak havoc. We had one this past January, a sudden 100 kilometre an hour gust that knocked over two tall massive coal-loading machines (hundreds of tons apiece) at Roberts Bank on the mainland (one fell onto a ship, the other was lifted off its tracks and thrown into the water). These gusts aren't always predictable, as those who live on the east coast know so well. I've had my share of harrowing experiences in such circumstances, but sitting here with my stitches just out today, with another "up to 8 months of possible swelling Doug," I miss being out there. BTW, (unrelated topic) in case anyone was following that story this summer about a man swimming around Vancouver Island, he almost made it but, dislocated his shoulder in a big boomer off Brooks Peninsula. He lives near me out here in Langford, a suburb of Victoria, or as we like to pride ourselves, "Westshore." Doug Lloyd (who really does try not to ignore the taxpayers of Canada, you know) Victoria BC *************************************************************************** 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 Wed Oct 29 2003 - 04:17:37 PST
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