!Jones wrote:
On Wed, 21 Jun 2006 08:11:25 -0400, in rec.boats.paddle Steve Cramer
wrote:

1. Get some training. It's unclear if you are new kayakers or only a new
tandem team, but you should learn to deal with wind and waves in a safe
location that doesn't require Coasties.
2. Pay better attention to conditions
3. Don't go out as a single boat.

Thank you for the lecture.

Don't mention it. Comes with your Usenet subscription. No extra charge.

1. It was a Coast Guard sopnsored training session held with a
lifeboat standing by.

You might have mentioned that. Were you the designated crash test dummy?

2. The conditions were pretty generic to the area in which we live: 20
knot wind, 4' chop on a 9 second period. No fun, these, but, if you
plan to paddle hereabouts, you'd better be able to deal with that.

Indeed. Are you able to? If not, find some more sheltered areas until
you are.

3. When you end up in the laundry, another kayak isn't much help, IMO.
I had other boats all around me.

Then why did the Coast Guard have to be involved. Oh, right, they were
training and needed the practice. Will you always paddle in CG practice
zones? If not, ....

But, seriously, when you're flipped by a wave, are you *really*
thinking about getting some training?

Of course not, that's why you should be thinking of it NOW. Might have
been nice to think about it beforehand, but that's water under the, um,
kayak.

Can one really learn how to handle a kayak in adverse conditions by
reading some books on the subject?

No.
.... by getting advice from
experts?

No.

We chose that spot and those conditions because we thought
they'd be challenging; however, they would not life threatening.
(Although, about my third time through the rinse cycle, I wasn't so
sure about that.)

Just asking, had you ever tried to do an unassisted tandem re-entry in
4' waves? In flat water?

We were not able to right the boat and remount. Our spotters gave us
time, then came in and fished us out.

On reflection, I think that a drag device might have helped... *that*
was the meat of the question. *I* couldn't orient the nose-high
tandem boat and get back to my stoker. ( And I believe I said that one
should avoid that situation.)

Oci-1 has given an excellent set of advice on how to deal with your
problem. Of course, he was sitting at a keyboard and had time to think
about it. If you had had some previous rescue training, it might have
been an automatic response on your part.

Now, an unsolicited lectu If you don't wish to fight incessant
flame wars, then refrain from giving out unsolicited lectures. While
what you say is perfectly valid and nobody in their right mind would
argue otherwise, it comes across as pedantic and patronizing.

I'm sorry if you found my suggestions pedantic ( I am, after all, a
college professor) and patronizing. Here's the point I was trying to
make, and if you spend any time here you'll see it made repeatedly: more
gear does not keep/get you out of trouble. Training leading to a
stronger skills base does.

I *love* to fight flame wars, personally; however, I'm not seeking one
at the moment... I'm *still* sore from my Monday evening pasting in
the chop. I would suggest that no training session in the world
matches a good laundering for impressing one just how powerful the
waves are!!!

If you *love* flame wars, please find another ng. Telling people what
you think about the behavior they voluntarily placed in front of the
world is not flaming, it's what newsgroups do. It's nice to be
impressed. But you don't learn much under those conditions.

Paddle safe.

--
Steve Cramer
Athens, GA