Hi, Nice follow-up article about the tragic death of the two youngsters: http://www.pressherald.com/news/experts-see-kayak-trips-tragic-end-as-reminder_2010-05-19.html A number of years ago we, the wife and I, ended up in almost freezing sea water of the West Coast in Sweden, and were about as much tyros as these two girls, but we had a few advantages: People heard us, and aided us, just in time, and we had good clothes on, plus thick motorbike gloves and fleece hats on. Our means of communication (a phone) floated away with the boat, so you need to carry such items on your body, or in an easily detachable waterproof bag on the deck, that you can grab when you need it! Having a warm hat on prevents the gasping reflex so many of us have, when we dip our heads in cold water - we didn't know that, so it was just pure chance that we had them on! Thanks again, and well written! Tord S Eriksson ======================= This I wrote the day it happened (the water was officially colder than I wrote then): Hi all, I recently praised the stuff from Chillcheater in the UK, and today it definitely saved my life, and my wife's! While paddling in +5C waters near our home, we somehow turned topsy-turvy and were for a few secs totally immersed in the icecold water. Slowly the Chillcheater dry cag, and dry trousers, filled with water, but it was actually after getting onto a little reef the cold really took hold - it is now a few degrees below freezing, so maybe it was 5-7 degrees then. The kayak drifted downwind while we tried to raise help from the shore - eventually a fishing boat, piloted by a veteran 76 years old, who had scuttled thrice in his 62 years as a fisherman - once he was the sole survivor! He expertly manouvred his boat close to us and we could just step onboard, not much strength left by then. With the aid of a guy in a small open boat we managed to take the folding kayak, that had drifted a half a nautical mile downwind, on tow. Getting the waterfilled boat out of the water proved to be a major problem, so we'll invest in an electric bilge pump as soon as possible! But we eventually got it out, after my wife had pumped a few hundreds of water out of it - I was just too shaky to do much just then. She sat there with her feet immersed in the freezing water, pumping and pumping! Eventually she was too cold to do any more, and with the help of bystanders we got it out. All stuff were eventually retrieved, some more soggy than other - the remote for the car alarm to the car died totally, so we had to get a spare, in the other end of town, which took a lot of time, of course! So, we are still in one piece, totally thanks to Chillcheater in Devon, UK! Yours, Tord ========================= PS Yes, we did later invest in all things we could think of: VHF, GPS, flares, rockets, plus basic emergency equipment, so that we can make a fire, a repair kit, and so on, all packed in a bright yellow, watertight bag, that just needs a tug to release from the deck! No, we haven't ended up in the water again :-)! *************************************************************************** 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 Wed May 19 2010 - 00:39:40 PDT
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