Just a qiuick update for anyone that remembers the incident on June 7th off Trial Island in Victoria where 5 paddlers were reported in the water on a trip with a total of 12 paddlers and were supposedly swamped by a passing boat: I contacted Rescue Coordination Centre in Victoria, as well as Transport Canada/Office of Boating Safety on Friday, as well as the guide who took the paddlers out. In piecing the story together, it appears that the Times/Colonist article was for the most part inaccurate. The guide was fully cooperative with me. There were two other qualified staff along. They were off the SW side of Trial Island. There was an unexpected wave train close to shore in the usual calm alley there. Some participants choose to go through. A couple of friends of invited paddlers had come along with suspect kayaks (leaky plastic kayaks that nobody knew were filling up with water) which didn't fare well in the waves. There was a paddler with an undone-up drysuit who flipped and had re-entry problems. Part way through the rescue a power boat zoomed in and turned at the last moment swamping an on-going rescue. The women in question eventually received heat-treat hypothermia treatment from the Coast Guard. The group had a debriefing afterwards. Questions remain which the Coast Guard are also concerned with: why the woman was in the water so long and why there wasn't a PanPan or "soft" Mayday so at least the authorities would have been assessed earlier on. I will be following this story up in detail for possible consideration for Sea Kayaker magazine depending on the number of available objective lessons and relevant recommendations, and provided cooperation continues or someone doesn't publish elsewhere first. As always, paddle safely. And remember, seaworthy means you and your kayak, in all respects, are ready for the sea. 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/ ***************************************************************************
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