Steve Holtzman related an account of an outrigger canoe getting in trouble 100 yards off shore in Southern California. But he had difficulty remembering the details of the event which happened a couple of years ago. Although my memory is not that much better than my friend Steve's, in this case I do remember a few more of the details of that tragedy. As I recall, two paddlers died that day; one from hypothermia and one from drowning. Six men were paddling their outrigger canoe when strong off shore winds came up. The canoe was in such bad shape that it took on water and sank leaving the men clinging to the canoe's outrigger for support. Non of the men had a PFD. They were dressed in swimming trunks and T-shirts. When hypothermia started to claim the first victim, one of the men tried to swim to shore against the wind and current. The swimmer's body was found a day or two later. Although they were only about 100 yards from the mouth of the harbor when their boat sank, several boats passed by without seeing them in the choppy water. They did not have a signaling device such as a radio, a mirror, or a flair, . The four who were rescued were discovered by a fishing boat that happened to come very close to them. When they were pulled out of the water, one of the men had died from the effects of hypothermia. His team mates had held onto his body to keep him from being lost at sea. The newspaper reported that these guys had been paddling as a team for several years. They frequently had paddled their boat to oil platform Gina three miles off shore. Apparently they regarded PFDs and safety equipment as unnecessarily burdensome for paddlers with their experience, skill and stamina. A few months later they were in the paper again. It was reported that they had a received a ticket for paddling an outrigger with insufficient PFDs. Apparently a boy was the only paddler in their boat with a PFD. Patrick Martin Southern California *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
On Sat, 27 Mar 2004 08:32:19 -0800, "P Martin" <Captainkayak_at_earthlink.net> said: > The newspaper reported that these guys had been paddling as a team for > several > years. They frequently had paddled their boat to oil platform Gina three > miles off shore. Apparently they regarded PFDs and safety equipment as > unnecessarily burdensome for paddlers with their experience, skill and > stamina. I occaisionally paddle with a local outrigger team, out of Beverly Massachusetts. Not wearing PFDs appears to be a "cultural" thing. When I did my an outrigger race last year I believe I was the only person in any of the 6 man outrigger canoes who was wearing a PFD. Each outrigger canoe is required to have PFDs aboard but they are normally the horrible orange horse collar PFDs, the PFDs are usually jammed under each seat. I expect they are all adult mediums. I expect the only time they come out from under the seats is when the boats are trailered. Prior to an early season, 50 degree water, flip last year the local team normally paddled without wetsuits. After that wake up the team captain required wetsuits, for early/late season paddling, at his wife's insistance (she was one of those swimming). >From my point of view, personal safety equipment isn't something that is in the "culture" of the big outrigger canoes, thus far. Each boat did have a stern light for coming in at dusk, and a vhf radio. Kirk -- Kirk Olsen kork4_at_cluemail.com *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
> Not wearing PFDs appears to be a "cultural" thing. When > I did my an outrigger race last year I believe I was the only person in > any of the 6 man outrigger canoes who was wearing a PFD. > I believe that outriggers and flatwater canoe/kayak racers are exempt from USCG suggested requirements for wearing pfds. They're both racers and can generate a great deal of body heat during competition. -- So much so that it could become a liability. However, I believe the rules also state that a Chase boat Must be present and nearby at all times.... WRT wetsuits; outriggers began and are more common in the warm Pacific islands. The NE coast is different environmentally. I don't know what they do around here. There is a relatively new outrigger club in the Philadelphia area but I haven't seen them yet... Joe P. *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
On Mon, 29 Mar 2004 10:43:07 -0500, "Joseph Pylka" <jpylka_at_earthlink.net> said: > > Not wearing PFDs appears to be a "cultural" thing. When > > I did my an outrigger race last year I believe I was the only person in > > any of the 6 man outrigger canoes who was wearing a PFD. > > > I believe that outriggers and flatwater canoe/kayak racers are exempt from > USCG suggested requirements for wearing pfds. racing canoes and kayaks are exempt. from http://www.uscgboating.org/safety/fed_reqs/equ_pfd.htm "Federal law does not require PFDs on racing shells, rowing sculls, racing canoes, and racing kayaks; state laws vary. Check with your state boating safety officials. " > They're both racers and can > generate a great deal of body heat during competition. -- So much so that > it could become a liability. However, I believe the rules also state > that a Chase boat Must be present and nearby at all times.... If the race has insurance it's frequently a requirement that PFDs be worn. Which can be big surprise to professional canoe racers. I saw one Canadian gentleman do the Run of the Charles(Boston) 26 mile race wearing a small horse collar PFD - because without a pfd he would not have been allowed to start the race. I can only imagine the chafing on his neck by the end of the race... Kirk -- Kirk Olsen kork4_at_cluemail.com *************************************************************************** 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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