> While I like the idea of being visible on radar, I have one question: How > big a problem are collisions with kayaks? > > I frequently hear powerboaters complain that kayaks are not visible, yet > I don't hear cases of kayaks being hit due to lack of visibility. A > google search does find a collision where the powerboater was not > watching where he was going, but it had little to do with lack of > visibility: > http://www.nzherald.co.nz/kayaking/news/article.cfm?c_id=57&objectid=10433145 > Hi all, Maybe it is a problem restricted to Kiwi paddlers, but I can think of three kayak-versus-powerboat collisions, including this one. One resulted in a death and charges, and in the other the victim/target was a double. The front paddler leaned forward, the rear paddler leaned back, both got hit by the hull and the screw chopped through the deck between them! Good shooting if you ask me. Poor visibilty/sun strike was put up as a defence in both these cases. A while ago I stalked a stationary Coastguard vessel, as I knew the skipper. The sea was dead calm and after chatting with him I asked if I showed up on their radar. We played around for a while, with me doing circuits at different ranges and I was invisible to their radar, even in perfect conditions and them able to see me by looking up from their screen. Not really that surprising and it just confirmed that I should assume that, regardless of what rules say, I'm invisible, I'll always lose a resulting scrap, and I should behave accordingly. We are also going through issues with local governments (Regional Councils) passing rules dictating that kayakers need to wear hi-vis clothing, reflective paddles, flags, etc. This follows complaints from other boatees about the difficulty of seeing kayaks.While a commendable idea in principal, our concern is that it shifts the onus on to the paddler to be seen, and away from the power-driven vessel's skipper to see. It could also offer a defence in the event of a collision, in that "The paddler wasn't wearing the correct clothing, how was I to see them?" Personally, I'm fighting for a law change to enable kayakers to carry concealed weapons, a stainless-steel shotgun would look quite fancy on my buoyancy vest. :-) As long as the vest is hi-vis that should be OK. Cheers JKA John Kirk-Anderson Banks Peninsula New Zealand *************************************************************************** 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 Fri Jun 19 2009 - 11:39:50 PDT
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