For what it’s worth…
The guys in the Sea Kayaker had the most important things already down that made a diff. They chose the time when they could find major conditions for thier practice so that the tide and wind would be taking them out to sea and would calm down by later in the afternoon, they had talked before hand about what rescue scenarios they’d create and test their skills in and overall went out with if anything over the top preparation. As a result the biggest problems were that they landed on a beach south of where they had first planned and one guy lost his paddle.
This is quite different from going out on a paddle and finding conditions that overcome your prep.
But the article is instructive nonetheless - it’d be great if stuff from it got posted.
no comparison
Celia, you are correct that it’s not at all the same, and I wasn’t trying to compare the article’s situation with the accident in Maine. The article just came to mind (and another one as well, about two guys in Texas, which I’ll try to find as well) because it had such useful rescue info. I should have just started a new thread, as I will do when I post details from the article.
Of course not
"I am not sure if any dress would have changed the outcome. I think that 18 hours in 44 degree water is beyond the normal limits of even a survival suit."
A dry suit might have allowed the guy to have rescued himself before 18 hours. Without a dry suit, he was in trouble very quickly.
It wasn’t Georgia
It was Maine, open water, and May.
Still a good idea
I didn’t mean to indicate that you shouldn’t post it - in fact a lot of what those guys thought about and the equipment they used is excellent reading for everyone.
I just didn’t want to leave the person who had asked expecting the point of view to be quite the same as the tragic events in Maine.