[Paddlewise] Paper Solutions and dying at sea... sort of

Since the world has pretty much become one big bureaucracy paper solutions
seem to be the norm. The paper solution is a politician's favorite way of
attacking a problem. Make a rule (or law) that appears to solve the problem
but which only papers over the problem. It's even better if the rule (or
law) actually creates more problems than existed beforehand.

Boats getting stolen? Register them all and give them numbers. That will
solve the problem.

People who paddle seem to be drowning now and then? Require them all to wear
PFDs all the time. That will fix it.

Paper solutions are popular with everyone except the people they impact
directly; namely, those who are actually engaging in the activity that the
paper solution is applied to. Those who know little about that activity
usually think they're great because, to the uninformed, they look great.
Those who are actually engaged in the activity don't like them because they
add a burden to them that didn't exist before and, surprise, they usually
don't actually solve the problem. Look at how well all the laws against drug
use worked. Passing laws that ignore human nature is an exercise in
futility.

Paper solutions skirt the actual problem; which I might just as well
surprise you with now: people are occasionally stupid. If we could just pass
(and enforce!) a rule against stupidity then THAT would solve the problem.

Until that happy day we have to learn to weigh the benefits against the
drawbacks of everything and somehow come to a happy conclusion. This doesn't
always work all that well. Partly because of the inevitable intrusion of
chaos but also because we all secretly believe nothing can really hurt us.

I think that carrying safety gadgets is, on the whole, a good idea. For
years I carried nothing but my paddle. Now I'm festooned with a nice PFD,
lights in case I'm out after dark, flares, a VHF, my cell phone (in a
waterproof container), a whistle (for paddling solo, no doubt), a paddle
float, a pump, and a GPS. I'm pretty sure I've left a few things out of this
list, too.

For years I paddled in jeans and a tee-shirt (waterski wetsuit on w/w
rivers) but discovered that a drysuit was actually more comfortable under
more conditions than anything else. Even if it is a pain in the butt to get
out of when you have to go potty. So now I have a dry suit. Which I (mostly)
wear.

I may be rambling here... but hang with me... I'm circling in on a point.
I'm pretty sure.

The mental scale on which we weigh skills versus gadgets is not always that
accurate. On some days it's spot-on and on other days it's wildly off. This,
believe it or not, applies to everyone regardless of how sharp their
skillset is. I used to say that 1/3 of the world is a bozo but we take
turns... and if you meet me on the day it's my turn you're going to think
I'm a bozo from then on. This is true for most of us, I think.

So, while gadgets may not be life-savers under all - or even most -
conditions, they may be able to bail you out of a situation in which your
judgement skills were less than up-to-par. I'm thinking about the two guys
on the east coast who found themselves in a nasty situation but who had worn
drysuits, carried two VHF radios, and had flares with them. Their gadgets
really did save their lives.

Now, I'm certainly not one to preach that gadgets should be required because
I don't like people telling me what to do any more than you do. However I
know that I can - very occasionally - screw up. So I carry gadgets as I
think they are warranted. With luck they will further my main job in life.
Making sure that I only look stupid.

I think that's a worthy goal.

Craig Jungers
Royal City, WA
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