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Sea Kayaks Techniques Bulletin Board
Re: Canoe and Kayak Scam Kills 1,000 Americans
Posted By: Mick In Response To: Re: Canoe and Kayak Scam Kills 1,000 Americans *Pic* (Geoffww)
Date: Monday, 11 August 2003, at 2:03 a.m.
: I think some of the responses here about Tim's crusade over rolls and paddle
: floats are pretty ignorant. Tim is no doubt handling his battle all wrong.
: Instead of saving lives by getting his product out into the marketplace he
: instead chooses to fight with words and numbers. His website is grossly
: inadequate regarding getting the Sea Wing into the hands of paddlers. Both
: the U.S. Coast Guard and the Canadian Coast Guard Rescue Service endorse
: sponsons and the Sea Wing in particular. There was a kayaker fatality near
: the Queen Charlotte Islands BC many years ago. A group of 10 members in a
: tour entered into rough seas. All the kayaks were equipped with the Sea
: Wing sponson and paddle floats. There were multiple capsizes and two
: paddlers were swept away from the main group by the waves. One was
: suffering from acute hypothermia and one was already dead from hypothermia
: and drowning when the Coast Guard arrived. There were many failings by the
: head guide and one in particular stated the Coast Guard investigators was
: that the sponsons should have been deployed prior to getting into the
: rough water to give the novice paddlers stability during the crossing. It
: would have prevented the capsizes and saved a life. Sponsons are not only
: a means of easy re-entry but also keeps you highly stable while remaining
: installed during the rest of the rough voyage that capsized you in the
: first place. How many rolls can you do before you get tired? Remember not
: everyone who slides into a cockpit is built like Arnold. Everyone's
: fatigue threshold is different. Perhaps after 3 hours of steady paddling
: and suddenly being in rough water the average person could roll once or
: twice with a fully loaded kayak. The use of a paddle float in rough water
: with sharp peaks and valleys is a joke. Rolling is not the panacea of self
: rescue that some of you condescending snobs think it is. Some of you need
: to do some soul searching and are in a real need of an attitude upgrade.
: Who gives a damn what the correct statistics are we are talking about the
: deaths of people who are out to have fun and sadly don't come home. If Tim
: strongly believes that what he is doing is right then God bless him. What
: are doing?: Cheers
What I'm doing is always working on my roll. I always do practice rolls in my warmup and I paddle whitewater in a playboat most weekends which guarantees heaps of rolls will be done (at times in quick succession). And yes I can roll (and roll again) after 3 hours of steady paddling.
I also concede that there is a place for sponsons (See http://www.kayakforum.com/cgi-bin/Technique/index.cgi/noframes/read/18327). And I agree that paddle floats assisted re-entry is extremely difficult in rough seas.
Does that make me a "condescending snob" ?
The problem is not sponsons, the problem is the manner in which Tim promotes them. I would suggest that the fanatical way which he promotes them has done more harm than good. He has turned sponsons into a laughing stock. I mean he's even tried to promote sponsons to whitewater playboaters.... and that is just plain silly.
Tim has become the No. 1 reason why many paddlers refuse to even consider buying sponsons. As you say "Tim is no doubt handling his battle all wrong." The guy should have hired a marketing professional instead of wasting his money on the book.
And as for your example all it proves is that we should not place our trust in fancy rescue devices eg. sponsons; we should place our trust in hard work, continual improvement of skills and judgement. The sponsons won't save us if we don't have the judgement to deploy them in a timely manner.
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