Just a followup note regarding the stuck jet skier. While there are real pests among them, many are decent citizens who will help you out in a jam or at least inquire if you need help. Bill may have forgotten but a good mutual friend of ours, Joan Volin, was helped out by a jet skier a few years ago. She and her husband, Bob who regularly contributes to both these email lists, were out with a group when suddenly she experienced chest pain (or some serious feeling body distress signals). A passing jet skier whisked her back to shore faster than she could have paddled (if she should have still been paddling), while the group towed her kayak back. I think it turned out to be nothing or just dehydration (which can bring on heart palpatations...I experienced that once after paddling and not drinking enough). Still, regardless of the basic decency of many jet skiers, there is no getting around that, even when they are well behaved and responsible, their machines are just too disturbing to the peace of being on the water due to sheer sound and high pollution. BTW, you might want to check out some of the accessory gear they have for adaptation to kayaking. Some of these were covered awhile ago in Paddlewise. For example, the lanyard they use as a safety device in case they fall off the machine makes a great inexpensive paddle leash. It is meant to attach to their PFD and to the ignition switch or such on the machine to turn it off. But its loop that hold the key easily fits around the shaft of a paddle and the latch hook on the other end can be attached to a deck line or bolt. It is quite lightweight and coiled. Other things to check out for adaptation include their docking lines which are a nice length for kayakers wanting to have such for their kayaks. Lightweigt, quite inexpensive and nice plastic hooks that won't rust. Other items are their boat fenders, small and easy to stow. Same with their anchors...lightweight and easy to stow. All of these items tend to be a lot less expensive than similar devices dedicated to kayaking and being for a similar environment to those of a kayaker work well. West Marine has carried a lot of these. I have not looked at their catalog to see if this is still true. ralph diaz *************************************************************************** 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 Tue Jun 15 2004 - 07:05:25 PDT
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