I think some of Craig's observations have merit. I did pick up on the age comment too. I was more wanting to rant for a second or two about the current state of paddling safety as illustrated in the incident - my opinion. I'm kind of preoccupied with weightier matters here on the home front with a sick spouse (so very, very up and down), so I didn't really think long and hard about the incident in question; thank you for some of your insightfulness. Doug Doug wrote >I still don't understand fully, nor can I comprehend the notion that anyone would consider the ocean as innocuous. Completely agree Doug' Problem is that people can be easily misled by an area that looks calm and protected by cliffs, and where the real trouble is just around a headland. So yes I totally agree about never thinking of the ocean as innocuous. Looking at Google earth the Baie Verte Peninsula area to the north has coastline near access roads that could be problematic should the wind push a boat out of the bay; considering the currents that might circulate around and between islands. Further into the inlet to the south, looks safer but perhaps there are hidden hazards associated with landform, wind gusts and tidal currents? I can imagine inexperienced kayakers getting into difficulties as they find their way half down that inlet to the ocean and turn a corner into a region with non landable stretches and perhaps an offshore wind. I've just seen Craig's email and Coachman's cove is the northern section, also they did have a beacon. The conflicting reports on their paddling times have me confused about how soon they set off the beacon and whether there were many hours before the helicopter spotted the boats despite the fact they were just a mile from the beach. Night time conditions could explains a protracted search or maybe the beacon didn't have GPS capability and they were trying to find a kayak within a km or two radius rather than a 100m radius that beacons fitted with GPS are said to offer. All the best and thanks Craig for the additional information, PeterO *************************************************************************** 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 Jul 07 2010 - 23:59:15 PDT
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