# Damn sure, cocksure or ignorant?



## kayakone (Dec 7, 2010)

Many users of inland waterways may carry the notion that they are 'safe' on an inland waterway, because it doesn't have surf, or swell, and it isn't very deep. Paddlers often say, "I'll stick to inland waters until I gain more experience."

(a) They are damn sure it is _not_ dangerous (it is only 100 metres wide)
(b) They are overly confident of their abilities
(c) Or they are ignorant of what could happen, how quickly it could happen, and how serious it can be

'Safe' .... pig's arse! Nothing could be further from the truth. Here is yet another piece of disturbing news from inland waterways (lakes/rivers dams).

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-09-30/s ... ey/4287768

http://ilsf.org/drowning/facts

These facts are alarming:
1. " ... more than 50 percent are children."
2. "All over the world, infants and toddlers drown more frequently than people at any other age. In this age group drowning is the leading cause of death, followed by accidents in and around the home and road traffic accidents. Inadequate supervision, an inability to swim, and lack of barriers separating toddlers from pools and other water are the main causes of drownings of small children."
3. "Older children drown less frequently but still in large numbers. They generally drown because of their parents' inadequate supervision. Parents may have unrealistic expectations about how well their children obey their safety rules when not directly supervised."
4. "Frequent participation in water sports as well as a tendency to be more reckless could explain the high drowning rate among those 20 to 25 years of age."
5. "In terms of recreation, those involving small, and especially motorised boats rank high in the list of activities drowning victims were engaged in. Drowning is the main reason for these deaths and it often occurs after a collision with other boats or objects, capsizing or falling overboard are the main causes of these boating-related deaths. This is why the wearing of life jackets is so important aboard any boat.

* One quarter of drowning victims were swimmers.
* Young children 2 to 4 years of age have a higher risk of drowning than any other age group. Most of these children are alone and playing near water when they fell in and drowned. The backyard swimming pool is the riskiest site for these youngsters.
* Four out of every ten drownings happen within two meters of shore or the pool side. And one-quarter happen in shallow water one meter deep or less."

Drowning itself is quick and silent, although it may be preceded by distress which is more visible. A person drowning is unable to shout or call for help, or seek attention, as they cannot obtain enough air. The instinctive drowning response is the final set of autonomic reactions in the 20 - 60 seconds before sinking underwater, and to the untrained eye can look similar to calm safe behavior. 
Approximately 90% of drownings take place in freshwater (rivers, lakes and swimming pools) and 10% in seawater.(Wiki)

viewtopic.php?f=9&t=40295&hilit=Drowning+does+not+look+like+drowning

Lakes, dams and rivers are cold water - often much colder than sea temperatures. As well, they are far from immune to wind, where the strength of wind on a dam can exceed the actual gradient wind on the nearby ocean, due to the funneling effect of the hills and mountains. For these reasons, inland waterways paddlers should be exceptionally vigilant.

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=54366&p=568257&hilit=Zed#p568257

Average temperatures of some inland lakes and waterways: 
LBG Temperature: The average lake water temperature as tested on 2 July 2012 was 7.6°C .... serious stuff, and definitely likely to produce cold water shock and loss of motor function in extremities!
Even Lake Wivenhoe in SE Qld gets as low as 14° C.

Stay safe lads

trev


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## GlenelgKiller (Mar 13, 2012)

Thanks for that Trevor. Always hard to read those statistics as a father of a 4 year old. My new PA has a removable jump seat on it but im yet to take her out in it. I have bought her a good life jacket and am only looking to take her in sheltered waterways in good conditions. She is keen to get out there but im still nervous as she isnt a good swimmer yet. What are your thoughts on tethering her to the yak with a lead to attached to the lifeacket? On the plus side if she did go over i could quickly locate her, on the downside im nervous about tethering her to something so big.


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## Beekeeper (Aug 20, 2011)

Trev... You took me under your wing when we first met out near the Beacon at Scarby... in those times, I had a PFD, but when you asked me did I have one, I told you that I kept it handy, behind my seat. You gave me several safety tips, including wearing the PFD at all times, and I haven't been out without wearing it, since. (Mind you, when I bought the kayak, the salesman told me I wouldn't need a life jacket... ???)

Having attended two of the safety days you organised, I'm much more safety conscious than ever... am confident that I can handle re-entry in most conditions, and have back-up plans should too strong wave action prevent re-entry... ie Marine Radio and PLD...

Since you've influenced my own safety knowledge, I see many instances of other kayakers on the water who don't have a schmick of an idea re safety, and you and I both saw those two reasonably aged ladies fishing from a two-man kayak near Flag Reef that day. You were on your way home (still convalescing from your op) when the wind blew up.

I watched them... getting more concerned as time dragged on... their problem exacerbated by the fact that their paddling needed to be synchronised or it would be worthless... they would get nowhere fast!

The could have come to the nearest shore and been fine, but their car was far away, and their mind-set told them that was where they had to land... beside the car! They didn't realise that the best move would be to pull in to the nearest shore, walk to the car, drive to where the yak is, and be safe!

They could have even paddled in close to shore, and been out of the strongest wind plus the wave action out further... paddled along in close until they reached their car. The tide was high enough for them to paddle over the close in reefs, at that time.

The wind was from the West (sprung up quickly) and I kept a close eye on them... if I had headed out to help them, would I have myself been in trouble? I could possibly get back, myself, being a reasonably strong paddler, but trying to help them as well???

I came to the conclusion that my best shot would be, that if they succumbed to the elements, I would radio the Coast Guard. The professionals would do a much better job than would I.

They finally made it to shore... I'm sure they would have been absoutely knackered... AND... I bet they will think twice before popping out to Flag to wet a line for a few hours!

It had been a nice calm day until that Westerly hit!

Lots of youngsters, especially some with those blow-up yaks, have been hitting the water recently... Pounds to a pinch of poop, they wouldn't have a schmick on safety, and could hit difficulty very easily if a wind sprang up.

No life jackets... just plenty of enthusiasm and the need to have fun!

Not good!

Be safe... Jimbo


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## kayakone (Dec 7, 2010)

Tragically...

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-10-01/m ... ection=nsw

Bless his parents in their grief.

trev


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## malhal (Jul 8, 2008)

This boy 'Dylan Spicer' is his name was a very close friend of my 13year old daughter. He was part of their group of 6-7 that did everything together and my daughter would see him almost daily until we moved north several months ago. She spoke to him less than 4hrs before his death while he was on this holiday with some of his friends. Seeing the pain my daughter has gone through with this is something I do not wish upon anybody. We got news of him beeing missing and his death before it was announced and seeing it on the news repeatedly has been hard on my daughter and her freinds.When it happened and we recieved phone calls from those close to it all and I asked was he wearing a life jacket but I already knew the answer. Very sad event indeed.
Speaking with my daughter through it all she now understands why every time we go in the kayak, swim in a river or dam I always make her and her sister where a life jacket. She understands now more than ever I am not doing so she looks silly even though she is a competent swimmer.
Never take it for granted that if something goes wrong you will be in any condition to swim for shore.
With a heavy heart.

Cheers Mal


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## Rose (Jan 30, 2006)

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## kayakone (Dec 7, 2010)

Hi Rose.

I heard you were back in internet (forum) land, at least temporarily. Welcome back from your great Murray adventure (to date).



Rose said:


> I could tell some horrifying stories of the stupidity I've seen...but most of the time, they get away with it by sheer blind luck. Most of all, I've been amazed by people's complacency about inland bodies of water, whether they are lakes or rivers.


Too true. The complacency compounds the dangers manifold. When _I_ see inland water, I think about how cold it is, and how incredibly dangerous that is, if you are in it ... http://gcaptain.com/cold_water/?11198

From this article by ELM: viewtopic.php?f=3&t=41024&p=451926&hilit=Cold+water+shock#p451926

"I see the clothing we wear only second to the PFD that we are to wear in importance. While we all have differing climates to deal with, an extended immersion will eventually have the same effect (leading rapidly to) "hypothermia".
Down south we are also exposed (although the threat is low, it still exists) to "Cold Shock". I personally have once been exposed to early stages of hypothermia and I have also retrieved an inexperienced and very poorly prepared novice kayaker from the water with hypothermia.

It's not just about the dunking, it's also about getting back to shore or even your kayak, and to a degree now, I am not just talking about open water, it can happen anywhere and here is a very good example of why I make my stance on protective clothing no matter where. The Barwon River is not a great expanse of water, it's just your average river estuary. Arr, but it's just a river, 'I will never fall out on that and if I do the bank is just there'!!! Famous words, and here is a kayaker that is very lucky to be alive in that very river. "

http://www.geelongadvertiser.com.au/art ... _news.html

Also: "My personnel opinion is there is no place for shorts on a kayak, if you are wearing shorts on a kayak you are not dressing for an extended immersion, you are dressing for comfort on a kayak. If you are dressing to protect yourself in an extended immersion you will be wearing a skin tight thermal product that will minimise water flow across the skins surface, this will allow the skin to retain as much warmth as possible. If the water that is against the skin has its flow restricted, the body has a chance to actually heat that water and retain body heat, but if the water is in a state of constant flow it is actually carrying the heat away at an accelerated rate. If the body is loosing heat it will shut down blood flow to the outer extremities, that being the skin and muscle's, so now blood and the muscle's begin to weaken and cramp. If you have weak and cramped muscle's, you have little chance to get back to your kayak or back on it, and even if you do, what then?

How will you get back?

How will you cope with the wind chill?", and...

"If you go onto any sea/ocean kayak exploring web site or visit any sea/ocean kayak club, the same thing will come from them as another group around the other side of the globe, and that is training and protective clothes and they are all fairly consistent with each other.
Come onto kayak fishing sites and it is quite the opposite, read the papers or listen to the news, how many kayak fisherman have had near misses or worse in the last few years, and what have we done about it? Oww poor Johnny and that's about it."

"We have no "Codes of Conduct". If someone in a cool climate comes onto the different kayak sites asking what's comfortable, we shouldn't be telling them shorts are comfy, we should be saying: 
Here read the "Code of Conduct for protective clothes". If (_because - my addition_) people keep drowning or dying from hypothermia I can tell you now the government body who are in charge of that area are not going to come to us the kayak fishers for advice because they can already see with all the posts that we are not interested in protecting ourselves and then they will do it for us, but then I doubt they will say what clothes we have to wear, instead they will limit where we can go so we cannot get in trouble. Mark my words, if we as kayak fishers are not prepared to (smart) self regulate they will and it is inevitable with the growth we are experiencing." Prophetic words Eddie.

The second thing you refer to Rose, is the rate of change of conditions with wind.



Rose said:


> I've seen the Hume Weir change from one mood to the other in less than an hour. I didn't get photos of that day, I was too busy using all my sea kayaking skills to get to the other side of Talgarno Bight (the place pictured in the dark photo). The photo only gives a vague idea of the actual savagery of the wind further out, and those steep little waves...which are not so little either, out in the middle, just steep and coming broadside on at a boat trying to cross. My weather report was a bit skewed the day I paddled the bight, so I got hit by unexpected winds part way across...that seemed like a long paddle. I wouldn't have liked to be without safety equipment, especially the PFD. If I'd capsized I'd have been unlikely to survive if not wearing one. This kind of weather stirs up all the colder water from the bottom, just to compound the dangers.


Too true. And without the sea kayaking skills you refer to, what chance would someone have? Probably Buckley's.

trev


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## Rose (Jan 30, 2006)

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## Thegaff (Apr 19, 2011)

I have to agree with you guys about the inland water ways and lakes, a few years back i was silly enough to think i didnt need to check weather and wind reports wile i was fishing a dam up in imbil, what was hour slow paddle to where i was fishing quickly turned in to two and a half hour long paddle against wind and rain. I wear a pair of long pants from Anaconda made from wet suit material wich i think is around 2mm thick but dont hold me to the thickness, it keeps me warm in winter and i find i dont realy get all that hot in summer from it either and it was so CHEAP i paid roughly $40 and havent looked back.


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