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Sea Kayaks Techniques Bulletin Board
Re: Call me chicken...
Posted By: Robert Woodard In Response To: Re: Call me chicken... (Ian Johnston)
Date: Monday, 25 December 2000, at 11:52 p.m.
: I agree with what others have said here about time in the water and dress.
: You only need to dress for the time it takes to re-enter your boat.I almost agree with this, except I have one nagging experience in the back of my mind about one rough water 'practice' session I was on. I had 2 partners with me, but if I had been alone I could have gotten myself in a bit of trouble.
I was right in the middle of some serious wind and some decent waves. I wanted to practice rolling, but I blew my first, second, and third attempt. I decided to wet exit and as soon as I popped the skirt I had the boat and my paddle ripped away from me by a nasty gust of wind. As I poped to the surface I could see my paddle tumbling end or end above the water. Fortunatly it was a short gust and I was able to catch my boat. My two compadres came over in case I needed help, but I kept them away while I tried a reenter and roll - blew that twice in a row and decided to try a paddle float reentry.
I guess I was in the water a good 15-20 minutes farting around. If not for my dry suit I would have had to have one of my partners put me back in the boat within the first few minutes. But I like to often practice solo rescues even when paddling with others, as it is the safest time to try that if they can back you up.
This is a long winded way of saying *if* I had been alone that day, and *if* the wind hadn't stopped gusting, it would have been one heck of a swim back to shore. I don't feel comfortable enough to dress for only a few minutes worth of imersion. I try to dress for the longest swim back to shore, and to protect against that initial cold shock.
Woody
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