RE: [Paddlewise] Kayaks and Visibility

Paul,wrote:
>At the public hearing (a few weeks ago) on kayak visibility, the Councillors
>were concerned that a 'torch displayed in time...' would be hard to do in
>rough conditions. As you might expect, we were dealing with elected
>representatives who had no kayaking experience and undoubtedly felt we were
>all flirting with disaster at the best of times.

G'Day Paul,

They don't sound dumbass to me at all. Its easy to hear a jetcat or sailboat
coming from behind at speed. It sounds like a loud crunch and its the first
and last thing you'll hear. We do have a lot of deaths on the water in NSW
from boaters not using lights. Afraid I can't condone it.

I'm curious that your practise in traffic seems to be contrary to the advice
you gave the councillors in that you continue to run your 360-fixed-blue light
as well as turning on your head torch when necessary, when kayaking solo in
traffic.

I like the idea of your headtop 360 degree light but would want it in white
light. If its reliable, visible and doesn't give fellow paddlers night
blindness then I'm in the market and I know several others who would be too.
I've seen that approach before and theres something very distinctive about a
lamp on someones head or on a mast attached to a kayak. The movement the light
makes is quite weird and distinctive from a distance and by now I'd easily
identify it as coming from a paddler. No need for multicoloured lights.

All the best, PeterO
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