A beginner, just getting into kayaking (from her profile), has no self rescue skills, and can't swim(according to a significant other?).
Asking strangers if they solo; because (in all liklihood), she is interested in soloing, and is seeking support, OR " the answer she wants to hear".
I'm betting significant other doesn't think she should be soloing.
Many of the strangers tell her what "they do", but don't really address the central issue.
The lady can't swim!
Obvious(I've heard all of them) rationalization; "Lots of people who paddle can't swim; they are ok if they wear their pfd".
My "personal opinion": Learn to swim before considering soloing, and paddle with a partner until you can swim; even if you always wear a pfd.
Preferably a partner who knows CPR.
On a wide, moving water river, or in the middle of a lake, you are not going to "float" to shore.
You will also not "float" out of harm's way if you are on a moving water river & you capsize "upstream" of a strainer.
You will not float to shore if you capsize, and injure yourself in deep water.
If the water is cold; how long do you have before you start experiencing hypothermia? How long will it take you to "float" to shore.
If your dump bag is in your boat when you capsize, will you need it's contents? Can you get to it if the boat is drifting downstream, or will the boat wait on you to float to it?
How long will it take you to "float" to your boat, retreive your dump bag & then "float" to shore?
If someone who is paddling with you capsizes & injures themselves in deep water, will your lack of swimming skills be a positive or negative factor?
You happen upon a "stranger" who is in the middle of a lake or a river, and needs your assistance.
Will your help them?
Will your lack of swimming skills be a positive or negative factor?
Substitute stranger for a loved one.
I could be wrong..........
BOB
Ex Lifeguard Instructor
Ex Water Safey Instructor
Ex Canoeing Instructor
Ex Advanced Swiftwater Rescue Instructor
On whitewater, on rivers up to Class III, easy Class IV. Sometimes I was alone in the sense that I had no paddling companions, but was on a popular river with other boaters and/or rafters who may or may not have been able and willing to offer assistance in case of a mishap.
Other times I was truely alone, the only person paddling the creek or river. I had many, many swims and self rescues but never lost a boat, and haven't been killed yet.
I usually took a bicycle for a shuttle if I didn't expect to be able to hitch a ride.
Dumbest was paddling moderately steep creeks in spring flood by my lonesome. Not generally recommended.
Ditto I never learned to swim when I was a kid. I developed quite a fear of water, and in spite of taking swimming lessons a few times, never made real progress. I discovered an easy opportunity to learn to swim as a young adult, and by that point, I was sensible enough to give it my best shot in spite of my uneasiness around water. This was before I became such an avid paddler, but I did spend a lot of time in small boats, and figured learning to swim only made sense.
It was one of the smartest things I’ve ever done, and for the next several years I truly ENJOYED improving my swimming skills (actually, I still do, but I don’t improve as rapidly anymore). Not even considering the safety aspect, falling out of your boat, or even running the risk of falling out, is a whole different experience if you are comfortable in the water than if you are not.
ignorant question since I know how to swim I have no idea what it feels otherwise but I’m thinking that if I wear a PFD I do not really need to know how to swim because I’m being held up by the pfd. After that realization it’s just moving your hands and feet to move along isn’t it?
You’re right Sorry, I didn’t realize she couldn’t swim when I replied.
I guess there’s a lot that could be said about swimming. Some disabled people who can’t swim do kayak—most likely with an instructor alongside. If you’re wearing a PFD you’re bouyant, but swimming strokes are still useful/necessary.
I regret any appearance of encouraging the OP to kayak alone. I would now encourage her to learn to swim before kayaking at all, even with others. A kayaker who can’t swim endangers others who may have to come to her rescue.
You have on your pfd, but you can't swim.
You are kayaking on the ocean; you encounter a rip current.
Your kayak capsizes; you have no self rescue skills. You get separated from your kayak & your kayak paddle.
Even with no swimming ability, you are OK; you have on your pfd..........
You'll just float & dog paddle to shore; you don't need any swimming ability.
Your kayak & your paddle will also just float to shore.
It's all good..........
RIGHT?
I don't think so........
BOB
P.S. I am not opposed to solo paddling.
Have done some myself; even some whitewater solo.I was not a beginning paddler; I wore a rescue pfd with extra flotation, I had excellent swimming skills, I had self rescue skills, and very extensive training. Even with those skills, a pfd & over 35 years of paddling experience; I was/am not drown proof.
you are asking the question---I paddled alone when I wanted to go out but didn't have anybody to paddle with---I already had plenty of canoing and white water kayak experience at that point. and I had a roll and self rescue. I also could swim.
Are you asking if you should paddle alone?--Is Jeffschoaf right--that you don't know how to swim and have never done any self rescue practice? If your question is should you paddle alone I guess my answer is so long as you don't go in water over your waist and the temp of the water is over 70, then you should be ok.
Yes, but … Judging by the names of the Original Poster and the poster who reported she can’t swim or self rescue (both have SHOAF as last name), I’m going to go out on a limb and figure one reason this question was asked is to settle a difference of opinion.
Neither of you is going to get a definitive answer here, but you will get some factors to consider, so here is my two cents worth.
I am female and paddle by myself, but I paddle within my limits – and judget those limits conservatively when I’m alone.
I almost never paddle a river alone unless it is one I know well and conditions are benign. Too many things can go wrong in places where you can’t get to help easily and others can’t get to you or even find you.
Most of my solo paddling is on a lake where I know the best landing places and where there are usually fishermen around who could help me if necessary – but I recognize that help may not come quickly, so i seldom paddle solo when the water is cold (that’s changed somewhat now that i have a dry suit).
When I started paddling solo, I stuck close to shore.
I did not paddle solo until after I had taken lessons, including self-rescue lessons.
A few random comments - first off I don't get what the ladies part has to do with anything. Paddling alone is a matter of assessing your paddling, the conditions and your rescue/recovery skills correctly. That's not gender related.
If gong down a river means white water, we usually see groups going down together. My husband and I have never done WW with less than four.
I usually paddle with my husband or a local crowd. But I picked up a canoe last fall, and much/most of my time trying to get the strokes down was then and will probably remain alone.
But - to echo what others above have said - I am a quite competent if not pretty swimmer, especially with a PFD on. And one of the things I will be working on as soon as the water tops 50 degrees on will be figuring out how to equip the canoe and train myself to be able to self-rescue in it.
Even with the above, there are trips I have refrained from taking because the situation was one where it really required a certain number of paddlers to be safe should something unexpected occur, and we didn't have that minimum. This has happened on the ocean, and even with the people who are there all having solid rescue skills and being dressed for immersion and all that good stuff, the count just didn't meet a safe minimum.
These were trips where the minimum count was four.
comfort in water Generally, I would guess that non swimmers are much less comfortable in the water in an emergency. Yes, staying afloat and moving your arms isn’t that hard if you’re in a pfd. But I’d guess that most non swimmers would be susceptible to panicking if they are unexpectedly in the water, especially if alone.
Don’t do it. You owe it to yourself and your paddling partners to learn to swim. Go the the local YMCA. They’ll have everything you need.
Not “signifcant other”… But I am Kathy’s “significant brother!” and primary paddling partner.
I believe Kathy’s question is driven by the fact that she works an odd shift, including many weekends, whereas I work more “normal” 8-5, five days a week. She’s not having much (any?) luck finding anyone to paddle with during the week when she’s not working (while I’m at work).
solo My mom told me I was going by myself as little as ten. It was a slow moving river though and not far at all. Before you guys start blasting my parents, they had me paddling my own craft from a young age. I just bought two kayaks for my kids (5 and 6), it is going to be an interesting summer to say the least.
canoe self rescue People should realize that for normal mortals, self rescue from a capsize in a canoe on a lake or river means swimming the boat to shore, or at least into a good eddy in mid river, from which the boat can be emptied and reentered.
There are videos and books describing unassisted reentry of a capsized canoe in deep water and a lot of folks figure that they could do that if necessary. It is much more difficult than it appears.
Even with floatation, if you are successful in reentering a canoe this way, you will now have hundreds of pounds of water in it, and it will be unwieldy, to say the least.
In a canoe when no help is available, a capsize during a long open traverse over cold water when not wearing a dry suit will likely mean death. I lived in Minnesota for ten years. Typically, every year one or more people drowned within 20 ft of shore. The immediate debilitation resulting from hypothermia just can’t be believed until experienced.
I think it would be difficult for a nonswimmer to get a flooded boat to the shore, PFD or no PFD.
Talking to me or in general? I have a drysuit - two actually since I decided to put new gaskets on the one that has patches on patches, so I could preserve the new one longer.
I am fully aware of the difficulty of self-rescue in a canoe - I tried for two seasons at camp when I was a kid to do this and was (darn!) the only camper in my cohort who just couldn’t pull it off.
I am resolved to fix this issue as an adult, though I expect it to take some time, and probably float bags.
WW is another matter, and for the foreseeable future I’ll be doing that in a kayak. My strokes aren’t great in WW with a double blade, but they are non-existent for a single blade in moving water.
This is a bit off the topic but a few weeks ago two young folks, both ~19 and freshmen at a local college were on a date at Torrey Pines beach, they were playing around with a boogie board in the shallow water. Neither one of them knew how to swim. I had been out surfing very near there a few hours before and gave up because the waves were so small, but as the tide started going out, and a onshore wind came up from the NW, one or both, got knocked off their feet and started to be pulled in a strong rip, the guy fought and yelled for help and threw his boogie board to his girlfriend but she did not recover it and was underwater. THe lifegaurds were leaving for the day but someone flagged them down and they dove in, their street clothes and swam out in the rip and found the girl. She was underwater and not breathing. She is now still in intensive care in a hospital. She was the star tennis player at the college. The guy was swept out and under the waves and his body has not been recovered. His family and friends are of course devasted, and lots of folks have been trying to help find the body here.
This happened in a spot where the waves can be very violent and dangerous but the day this happened it was almost placid.