On Saturday 09 June 2007 02:35, Jennifer wrote: > I have to say that after 4 years of teaching beginners to kayak I am now > fully convinced that a preliminary wet-exit is necessary. I have yet to > see _anyone_ (including swimmers) fail to get at minimum disoriented and > at worst panic when they capsize for the first time. If it is an > unintentional capsize the reaction is almost always worse. Spending 30 > minutes on a pre-trip practice capsize is the only way to alleviate > this. Once over is worth more than hours of lecturing and "practicing" > sitting on the ground. I agree fully! To make it less of a scare, submit watertight head-gear, as immersing your head can provoke the gasp reaction - been there, done that - and getting cold water into your ears can be dangerous, the experts tell me. When the wife and I accidentally rolled we both wore very water-repellent thick fleece caps from Musto (seem to be out of production - a pity!), and neither had any gasp reaction - thank God, as we were surrounded by a very cold sea - 38 F (3 C)! 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/ ***************************************************************************Received on Sat Jun 09 2007 - 08:10:27 PDT
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