This link gives a little more information: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/newfoundland-labrador/story/2010/06/26/kayakers-search-missing-626.html This article clarifies a few things. The pair, who both live in Michigan, launched from Coachman's Cover on the northern coast of Newfoundland around midnight and the CCG launched a search when the surviving paddler triggered a "beacon" (PLB?) at 6am the next morning. The CCG was searching near the Horse Islands which are 40 miles north of their launch point. Weather when they launched was clear with a bright moon but conditions worsened towards morning. Hard to pinpoint any obvious reason for this tragedy other than paddling in new waters always presents more of a risk than paddling where you are familiar with weather patterns. An expert paddler in one area may be not much more than a newbie in others. Paddling new waters at night only increases the risk. It's *much* more difficult to detect oncoming bad weather at night than it is during daylight hours. No mention of the kayaks they were in but that might have played a part as well. Only one of them kept capsizing and it would be interesting to know whether he was in a boat that was beyond his abilities. They did have a beacon and perhaps triggering that earlier would have helped. Both men were older (60s) and apparently the lost kayaker did not have a roll. Even so, having a roll might not have saved him as even rolling takes effort and nothing drains you of energy as quickly as being window-shaded in cold water. I'm not sure what a "semi drysuit" is. My understanding of a semi drytop is a top that doesn't seal as well at the neck and wrists. Two hours in cold water in a suit that was leaking water does not sound like fun to me. Caveat paddler. Craig Jungers Moses Lake, WA www.nwkayaking.net *************************************************************************** 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 Tue Jul 06 2010 - 11:58:10 PDT
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