A Few More Comments....
Look in Google under Tahoe Daily Tribune, May 22, http://www.tahoedailytribune.com/article/20070522/NEWS/105220031 The heart attack idea seems very plausable. I can just imagine someone standing in the cockpit, new old boat, cockpit full of people who don't know the boat, windy with flapping main and a boom swinging around like a weapon, trying to tie the outhaul while at the same time tring to keep the bow into the wind. One slip and over ye goes. Several years ago in the Queen Charlottes we were one of two boats invovled in a rescue of a couple missing kayakers. In the southern end of the Charlottes there is practically nothing in the way of other boaters. It's basically wilderness. Nice wilderness. Except when you need emergency help. The problem with an emergency is there are so many things going on, so many questions, so many "no answers", it is difficult at best. In our case we were visitors to an unfamiliar area, the other boat was a "captained and crewed" charter boat that was from the local area. Talk about communication problems - we had 'em. It was agreed that we would search one area while the other boat would search another area. Bad decision. There were a LOT of bad decisions that evening. End result, one kayaker rescued, one kayaker died. Have we done some second guessing? You Bet! And Tim, and anybody else who has ever been involved in a rescue will, too. Inflatables #1: One of the rescuers, the kayaker tour guide, borrowed my new Avon 3.15 roll-up with new 8hp outboard and headed off to search. He got about 200 yards or so and the engine quit. This is in breaking seas. The fuel tank vent cap was closed! Had he gone a few hundred more yards we would have been down the inlet and maybe not known. Stuff happens. Inflatables #2: They can be blown over when it's windy. When it was new I had mine on the foredeck one day in around 20 knots, all 115 pounds(!), and it went airborne and flew off into the water. Maybe in the water with an outboard attached and someone in it wouldn't be a problem? I don't know but stuff can happen. It was really windy that day. Not to mention very low overcast and drizzle. I don't know about towing one in high seas, either. I don't do it because I saw first hand how easy it could go airborne off my foredeck. Being in the water would probably be better but who knows. I lash it down on deck now. When conditions are rough, the idea about staying with the mother ship and not running off in the dingy is a good one. Ted Weitz's comment I think had excellent reasoning. Let's all make a resolution to try and be a bit more careful this season! This grief is too much for me.
Look in Google under Tahoe Daily Tribune, May 22, http://www.tahoedailytribune.com/article/20070522/NEWS/105220031 The heart attack idea seems very plausable. I can just imagine someone standing in the cockpit, new old boat, cockpit full of people who don't know the boat, windy with flapping main and a boom swinging around like a weapon, trying to tie the outhaul while at the same time tring to keep the bow into the wind. One slip and over ye goes. Several years ago in the Queen Charlottes we were one of two boats invovled in a rescue of a couple missing kayakers. In the southern end of the Charlottes there is practically nothing in the way of other boaters. It's basically wilderness. Nice wilderness. Except when you need emergency help. The problem with an emergency is there are so many things going on, so many questions, so many "no answers", it is difficult at best. In our case we were visitors to an unfamiliar area, the other boat was a "captained and crewed" charter boat that was from the local area. Talk about communication problems - we had 'em. It was agreed that we would search one area while the other boat would search another area. Bad decision. There were a LOT of bad decisions that evening. End result, one kayaker rescued, one kayaker died. Have we done some second guessing? You Bet! And Tim, and anybody else who has ever been involved in a rescue will, too. Inflatables #1: One of the rescuers, the kayaker tour guide, borrowed my new Avon 3.15 roll-up with new 8hp outboard and headed off to search. He got about 200 yards or so and the engine quit. This is in breaking seas. The fuel tank vent cap was closed! Had he gone a few hundred more yards we would have been down the inlet and maybe not known. Stuff happens. Inflatables #2: They can be blown over when it's windy. When it was new I had mine on the foredeck one day in around 20 knots, all 115 pounds(!), and it went airborne and flew off into the water. Maybe in the water with an outboard attached and someone in it wouldn't be a problem? I don't know but stuff can happen. It was really windy that day. Not to mention very low overcast and drizzle. I don't know about towing one in high seas, either. I don't do it because I saw first hand how easy it could go airborne off my foredeck. Being in the water would probably be better but who knows. I lash it down on deck now. When conditions are rough, the idea about staying with the mother ship and not running off in the dingy is a good one. Ted Weitz's comment I think had excellent reasoning. Let's all make a resolution to try and be a bit more careful this season! This grief is too much for me.