Re: [Paddlewise] Trapped!!!

And YOU gave ME a hard time for paddling a new kayak for the first time in 
Deception Pass by myself in 5-6 foot swells as the tide changed? With a surf 
launch and landing which I had not done before?
    ARE YOU NUTS?
    At least when you are with me, you know the edges of paranoia have been 
met and all the safety equipment I can carry is along (and some you carry, too!)
    I'm telling Sue to throw out all your tennis shoes.
    AND I HOPE that you have given up on those leather logging style boots 
you used to wear in the kayak! You would have been toast in those as they NEVER 
would have come off!
 
     By the way, why didn't you just adjust the foot braces to start? Oh, 
yeah, this is the Express with the sliding seat and have to go through a big 
procedure to readjust foot braces, since they are part of sliding seat mechanism.
 
     DON'T DO IT AGAIN!
                  Pam in Washington State (rolling now, though not well)
 
 
 
 
In a message dated 8/2/2008 10:11:16 AM Pacific Daylight Time, 
crjungers_at_gmail.com writes:

Once into the Mariner Express I noticed that my feet were not in a good
position. In fact, one foot was not able to get onto the foot peg. I figured
that was no big deal as I was just going to paddle around for 30 minutes and
it was, after all, as calm as a... uh... lake out there. Not a ripple. No
powerboats. No wind. So I secured my spray deck, grabbed my paddle, and
started off.

I usually edge the Mariner boats aggressively to get them turning and so I
put the Express on a nice starboard edge to make a sharp turn to port in
order to head in the direction I wanted to paddle. I remember noticing that
my edging wasn't as good as it usually was due to the way my feet were
arranged somewhere under the foredeck of the Express and just about then I
caught a crab with my paddle and capsized.

My first reaction was shock. I literally cannot remember the last time I
capsized in a sea kayak without doing it intentionally. Then I noticed that
I had dropped my paddle so I dog paddled to the surface to get a breath of
air (still with the spray deck attached). Unfortunately, I got half a breath
of air and half a breath of water and the cough reflex was so strong that I
went back under and then decided to swim out.

I pulled the toggle on the spray deck and pushed out and .... stopped. One
or both of my feet were entangled in the foot pegs and didn't want to come
out at the angle I was pushing. I kicked and pulled and pushed and finally
one tennis shoe came off and I popped to the surface.





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