Hi All; This topic has all the makings of the dreaded s*********ns debate of old... ah those were the days my friends... My concern with the PFD, or waist mounted systems is this: we are adapting a WHITE-WATER technique and system across to the SEA. [ well, many of us paddle in the sea ]. And at sea, you may find yourself towing someone for HOURS at a time. This raises issues of efficiency paddling over long stretches in what is probably rough water when all the dynamics of the tow [ the 'snap and twang' of the tow] is transferred on to your body. For mine, it is tough enough trying to tow someone over any sort of distance in rough water, without the added bonus of having the strain clamped around my waist and chest..try it for an hour or two and you'll see what I mean. I have in mind offshore rescue situations, when either the conditions are so rough that the towee needs assistance to make forward progress and survive; perhaps is seasick, perhaps has suffered serious gear failure as well. I would be interested in hearing from anyone who has towed someone for HOURS in rough sea, using a body-anchor system. I have only ever towed people with a deck mounted system and have been glad that the hull anchor point is taking the strain, not me. Again, a situation at sea is a whole lot different to a whitewater rescue. Cheers, PeterR , Australia. *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
Peter, I don't qualify as someone who has towed for HOURS in ROUGH seas, but I have towed for miles, sometimes in moderate chop -- all with a waist-mounted system. I use a Salamander Pro, which has a bungee at the base of its long tow line. This doesn't eliminate the shocks of dynamic changes in the tow, but it mitigates them well enough so that they are not a problem, even over distances and time. But, speaking of distances and time, it seems to me a great benefit of waist-mounted systems that they can be easily handed off to a reliever, so that people can take turns on very long and/or arduous tows. We practice this routinely in our Canoe Safety course. Bob Volin Peter Rattenbury wrote: > ...at sea, you may find yourself towing someone for HOURS at a >time. This raises issues of efficiency paddling over long stretches in what >is probably rough water when all the dynamics of the tow [ the 'snap and >twang' of the tow] is transferred on to your body. > ...it is tough enough trying to tow someone over any sort of distance >in rough water, without the added bonus of having the strain clamped around my >waist and chest..try it for an hour or two and you'll see what I mean. > ...I would be interested in hearing from anyone who has towed someone for HOURS >in rough sea, using a body-anchor system. *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
I've always used a waist mounted system for towing in sea kayaking. I've done a lot more short tows in whitewater classes, but have done a fair amount of towing in sea kayaking - not miles and miles, but a half a mile to a mile of pulling a loaded double or single. The last time I did this on a "three hour tour" I towed three distinctly overweight women that someone put into a triple (I was assisting on a large tour about two years ago, and happened to end up as sweep). Considering that I am a 5'2" 130lb woman I would say this would work for others. I've known people who have worked through experimenting with tows while going through the BCU star program and seem to think waist tows won in the end. I would hope that if one was hours from shore in rough seas one might have some alternative options. Andree PS Thanks for the "eye" options everyone! On Thu, 31 Mar 2005, Bob Volin wrote: > Peter, > I don't qualify as someone who has towed for HOURS in ROUGH seas, > but I have towed for miles, sometimes in moderate chop -- all with a > waist-mounted system. I use a Salamander Pro, which has a bungee at the > base of its long tow line. This doesn't eliminate the shocks of dynamic Andree Hurley KIX: http://www.onwatersports.com/ Store Update: http://www.viewit.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc? *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
Interesting all this talk about handing off a waist mounted tow line to a receiver which means you have no tow rope yourself I assume. After a kayak exercise which went seriously pear-shaped a few years ago I religiously carry two 15m tow ropes (we use thin line down here - about 3 - 4 mm which means they are light and compact). Having two ropes means you can always set up a V tow on a kayak or can hand one over to someone else and still be able to rescue someone yourself if necessary. A short tow of about 1m with a float in the middle is absolutely invaluable during assisted rescues. I have been playing around with a 10mm WW type rope I made and reckon it may have limited some uses in surf rescues but is complete overkill for sea kayaking. Like Peter I have towed people for hours in rough conditions and would not like to use a belt mounted system in this scenario for the reasons he states. I suspect boat mounted points are easier to transfer the tow rope between kayaks when doing a rotating tow. Richard, Sydney Australia *************************************************************************** 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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