My first reaction on reading the incident report was that leaving Todd to look for rescue was the same as leaving him to die and there were likely a multitude of actions that could have been tried first. I tried to be careful in posting my comment as I didn't think there was anything to be gained in being too blunt and the more productive thing was to try to foster a discussion on improving safety protocols. His compatriots are going to have a hard enough time coming to terms with their involvement without some uninformed 3rd party like me suggesting they did anything wrong. In a group situation like this in a competitive activity like surf skis it is awfully hard to keep a group together. The reason for the group is as much to have an impromptu race as it is a safety thing. Often there will be one or two safety conscious paddlers in the group but effective safety requires everyone look out for everyone else, and some means of communicating as the group spreads out. While it is fine to say everyone should share responsibility, in reality it is very hard to make that happen. In my local roughwater sea kayaking group we have annual discussions about maintaining group safety and every year we find our efforts break down in one form or another. So far we have been lucky. I do tend to agree that the surfski culture is more of a racing/fitness activity without the safety emphasis that has grown around the expeditioning culture of sea kayaking. This may be due in part because the sport evolved in warm waters where a long swim is a viable plan B for fit paddlers. It may take some reprogramming of the culture as the sport gains more ground in colder water environments. On Oct 14, 2011, at 1:07 AM, Duane Strosaker wrote: > Doug, > > With my recent taking up of the surfski and ocean temps here about 62F > now and getting down to the upper 50's in the winter, I read that report with > much interest. I am fascinated with the lack of safety outfitting involved in > the surfski, but I guess the whole idea is that in a race there are boats > present to pluck people out of the water. On my solo surfski workouts I > haven't been venturing more than a 1/2 mile offshore because of safety > concerns. > > What bothers me about the report is that Todd was led out by these > guys, given the impression that he'd be taken care of, and then let down. But > more so, he was a victim of surfski culture than anything else. > Guillemot Kayaks 54 South Rd Groton, CT 06340 USA Ph/Fx: (860) 659-8847 http://www.guillemot-kayaks.com/ *************************************************************************** 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 Fri Oct 14 2011 - 13:12:48 PDT
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