http://www.wcsh6.com/printfullstory.aspx?storyid=56363 http://jksgirls.blogspot.com/2007/03/man-dies-on-st-george- river.html Many years ago, one of our paddlers, upon nearing the take out after a day of cold water paddling, said "I think I'll try my roll". Over he goes; nothing happens for a while. Then he pops out and stands up by the boat quite stunned by the cold, with no idea what happened. (no head protection for the rolling) A friend of mine a couple weeks back told me about an adventure a few years ago on cold water. He rolled once and he felt a little ice cream headach, did it again and felt a little dizzy. His friends said do it again so they could take a picture (He was and remains skilled at rolling). This time he didn't come up. They got him out and took him home. He came to many hours later before the fire in their fireplace. He remembered nothing about the third attempt. Today I learned about the case cited in the above two webaccounts. I learned from an independent source that, not stated in the two accounts, the victim capsized and rolled up one or two times but remained a bit woozy. A little further down the river, he capsized again and I believe came out of his boat. His partners threw one or more rescue lines to him but he took no note of them. The victim was wearing a hardhat, but I believe no hood! Hard to say if the victim gasped. He certainly could have. I believe the most likely cause was direct cooling of his head by the cold water causing him to loose balance and consciousness. Could have been cold water up the nose. Cold water in the ears causes virtigo. His partners were unaware of the liklihood of any such effects. Wetsuit or not, the victim was not dressed to put his head under that very cold Maine river water. A paddler's hard hat won't do the job. The coroner's conclusion that he drowned does not indicate what happened out on that river. Thus my question, what was the water temp in Sweden? Chuck Sutherland *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
Chuck said (snip): > Many years ago, one of our paddlers, upon nearing the take out > after a day of cold water paddling, said "I think I'll try my roll". Over > he goes; nothing happens for a while. Then he pops out and stands > up by the boat quite stunned by the cold, with no idea what > happened. (no head protection for the rolling) Chuck, I reported an incident of mine in SeaKayaker magazine a few years ago (many now) about a capsize I had off Trial Island during a spring gale in an area of heavy overfalls and colliding currents. My roll wasn't flawless back then (it was mechanically, but not 100% mentally). I had difficulty in the current trying to roll back up after leaning the wrong way in the mixed waters/high winds. I wet exited with the plan to re-enter and roll once washed out of the maelstrom. I was tethered. I broke a paddle at the first re-entry attempt, then on my second attempt I couldn't for the life of me get my head below water for another re-enter and roll. I'd just start to black out. It was very frustrating - almost incredulous. Geesh, you only need a few seconds to do one. I was in a light Farmer John and summer paddling jacket (duh), no head gear. John Dowd used to make fun of us narrow kayak advocates out there alone on our 100th roll, perhaps having to try re-enter and roll pool tricks in real life conditions. He had a point, I learned that day. The water would have been a maximum of 12 degrees Celsius, given the flood currents being pushed up from deep in the Strait. I've never forgotten that lesson (not the one about solo storm paddling). The need for some type of head insulation can be paramount. While this may be a vintage post, I did want to mention I've done the renter and roll lots of times in cold water since without a wetsuit balaclava, or whatever you want to call them (helmet liner, etc). These successful re-enter and rolls were mostly during practice, or at the very least, while I was in a cozy state just prior to the wet-exit and immediate re-entry and roll. I've had this "head cold shock" phenomenon on a number of times since then too, often just rolling unexpectedly in clod water without head insulation (usually on hot day, cold water). If a roll can present a problem occasionally, a re-enter and roll certainly needs to be back-ed up (in my opinion). At Trial Island, the length in the water was a bit different though. I carry a spare wet suit material head liner in my PFD pocket ever since then, and have a second one in my daylocker hatch and/or worn for cold, rough water paddling. I have a full diver's deep water version too that I use in winter for night storm paddling. I've been reading through my old back issues of Sea Kayaker magazine this week (getting tired of CSI re-runs) and I saw a piece written by a lady advocating Deception Pass as a good playground for paddlers as there is a tendency to capsize suddenly, with the resulting consequences being a good test of technique, gear, and keeping your crap together. That, and your post got me fired up tonight. Better sign off. Doug Lloyd *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
When we, the wife and I, rolled in 3 degree waters, we had thick fleece hats on, that kept water out of our ears even. Jonas Rappe and his friend seem to not have anything like that on - but should have! Many years ago I dipped my head in a stream to cool down, and that water was just a few degree over freezing, being fed from a nearby snowfield, and that was really scary. The cold, it felt like, held my head as it was compressed in a vice - really nasty! Pounding headache and dizzy, it took many minutes before I felt normal again! Had I dipped in that stream I'm not sure I would have survived it. I was very fit then, if not as lean as mr Rappe. Tord *************************************************************************** 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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