Another death sadly

Paddlers' Place
#21

Hey Flyjimmy, I give you a lot of credit for being curious and wanting to give others good advice.

In addition to being much easier to swamp due to lack of a spray skirt, rec kayaks are typically wide with a relatively flat bottom whereas sea kayaks usually have a rounded or vee-shaped bottom. Flat bottoms are nice and stable in calm conditions but in big waves they are much harder to stay upright in as shown by this graphic.

And even if you stuff a red boat full of flotation, once you swamp you’ll be tired and more likely to swamp again and you may be exhausted before you can re-enter. “Wrong boat for conditions” is another common cause of paddler fatalities.

I think people often underestimate the weather too. If there is a strong breeze blowing you away from shore it may be impossible to get back if you swamp. Plus weather can change a lot very quickly. I experienced a change from zero wind to 50 mph gusts this summer in less then an hour while I was out. People often don’t check the weather before they paddle. Windy.com can give you a good idea of what to expect.

Not long ago a whole family (except for the wife) was lost due to “wrong boat” + “weather got worse”. More recently a Kennedy family member plus child was lost due to “wrong boat” (flat bottomed canoe) plus strong offshore wind…and they were just trying to retrieve a beach ball.

Coldweathersafety.org is another great resource. Many tragedies include some form of underestimating the dangers of cold water…even here on Lake Michigan in the summer people are warned about diving into water in the 60’s since they may have a gasping reflex and never come back up.

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#22

Thanks guys. I understand about the threats of cold water and flatter bottoms being more prone to capsize. The ability to right or re-enter one over the other is where I was at a loss. Your posts cleared that up.
I wish that there were more follow ups on these reports. In aviation once an accident case is closed the full report is available through the NTSB. I’m sure most can imagine what went wrong and probably plenty of cases mirror each other. Having as many details as possible could only help educate against reoccurring tragedies.

#23

Unfortunately, paddle craft do not have black boxes and if an incident is not witnessed it is often impossible to know exactly what went wrong, unless the paddler has managed to get off some type of distress call which is not often the case.

#24

More Deep Trouble and Deep Trouble are the best information about sea kayak accidents. I list the newer book from Sea Kayaker Magazine first as I find it more informative. Both are good.

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#25

If that set of photos is the actual kayak of the person who was lost, it’s worse than even a Pelican rec boat: I recognize that design and logo as a really badly made “tupperware pool toy” that was showing up in TJ Maxx and farm and feed stores over the past couple of years. I inspected one the first time I saw it and was appalled at the poor design and crappy fittings – could even see daylight through the seam along the gunwale. I wouldn’t even have used it to stash ice and beer cans in a backyard pool.

When novices ask me why they shouldn’t take discount store rec boats into coastal conditions I tell them for the same reason that you don’t take an electric golf cart or a kid’s tricycle on an interstate highway.

#26

Great analogy, Wilowleaf, I hope you don’t mind if I borrow it!

I think manufacturers of kayaks should be made to put large warning labels on their boats, that clearly state the craft’s unsuitability for certain bodies of water/conditions.

I had to stop reading some, let’s say, “more youth-oriented” kayak discussion boards, since I became distressed at so regularly seeing posts of people in rec boats or sit-on-tops, often without PFDs or wearing jeans and sandals, in open, rough, or frigid water. Also distressing: now some articles regarding the individual who died in this accident are referring to him as an “expert” kayaker.

#27

News reporters have a difficult task of reporting facts they learn from people who don’t know about topics the reporter doesn’t know about either.

“Expert” “Intermediate” …are kayak skills levels that even when defined in writing are often abused by those that … don’t progress much beyond “beginner”.

1 Like
#28

@Doggy_Paddler

Re those warning tags inside of boats, I do not recall which ones now but there was a manufacturer putting that kind of info inside their rec boats at one point.

No one paid attention. Especially when the person who sold them that boat at some big box store never mentioned anything about it.

#29

@Flyjimmy thanks for your curiosity and interest in educating yourself and others. I often have a sense that something’s “obviously” a bad idea, but can’t always put it into words. As you said, being able to explain without condescending to people can certainly be tough, but it’s an important endeavor in keeping people out of dangerous situations.

#30

Exactly what I was going for. I think there were several extremely helpful posts addressing this.

#31

The USCG will likely come out with a detailed report, but as all things involving the government, it will probably be months from now. The problem when local newspapers and other media cover stories like this, unless the victim is somewhat famous little effort is put into the reporting and little space is allocated for background details. Add to this the fact that the reporter is unlikely to know very much if anything about kayaking. Their beat is probably auto accidents and house fires.

Atlantic Coastal Kayaker online magazine periodically gathers together USCG report summaries and more well researched reports on kayak incidents and fatalities often focusing on what went wrong.

It’s senseless incidents like this one that increases the push toward mandatory licensing and boater safety courses. D.C. already requires all vessel operators to have a NASBLA approved boater safety certificate to operate in D.C. waters, although it’s rarely enforced at this time. Many other states now require all vessel operators born after a certain date to have taken an approved boater safety course as well. Many of these courses are only now beginning to include information specifically relevant to canoes, kayaks, and SUPs.

#32

I’ll take a look at that page. Something akin to an NTSB report could be helpful. It’s easy to think that we can surmise what happened based on the evening news. Most of the time we probably can but the most minor details can help have a better understanding of an event.

A license or required boaters certificate is also mandatory here in NJ for powered boats. I’m sure it was prompted by the arrival of personal watercraft which gave many with no experience an easier cheaper way to access the water. No marina fees or big tow vehicle needed. I’m not sure if it’s helped or not as I haven’t seen any statistics. My guess would be that it has.

One could argue that the arrival of affordable kayaks is even more of a threat then Jetskis. The idea of certification while it might have pros and cons is in my opinion is worth being considered. It could be as simple as a short online course with and a printed certificate. Just enough to educate users so they at least “know what they don’t know”.

#33

I kayak around the Firth of Clyde, West Coast of Scotland both fed by the Irish Sea and North Atlantic weather systems. I do not kayak at night and have seen myself, even during the summer, remain camped up on the beach for days waiting for weather conditions to change. A dry suit, PFD and helmet at all times. Sadly here too, during the summer we had two deaths on Loch Fyne simply because the two young adults thought it would be permissable to kayak at night, without splash decks and dry suits. It rains here 300 days a year. I carry H&H off shore jacket and trousers with a pair of short Gill boots as temperatures can plummet due to on/off shore winds. It is necessary to pack for four seasons all year round. Happy New Year one and all, stay safe.

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#34

Also, a boat of that blue colour would be more difficult to see on the open water, than a brightly-coloured boat.

1 Like
#35

Yellow is the color that shows up best at sea. I built a Pygmy Coho and varnished the deck, but painted the hull yellow. I did not like being out there with ships, barges and big power boats, not to mention the ferries.

1 Like
#36

There has been a lot of rec kayak bashing in this thread without any reported evidence of how or why Raistlin Ruther died.

He was paddling in the western portion an enclosed bay on Long Island, Peconic Bay, which is the outlet of the Peconic River. The reports are that he was wearing a wetsuit and PFD when his body was found about one mile west of Meschutt Beach County Park, where his capsized kayak was found. Another report says he was wearing a neoprene hood.

The kayak was a Pelican, which bore the name The Bay Dream, and he used a black Field and Stream Chute kayak paddle. He also frequently carried waterproof bags. I know this because I watched all the videos he shot on his TikTok page, where his username is “The Bay Dream”.

https://www.tiktok.com/@thebaydream?lang=en

You can clearly see the Peconic Bay waters he paddled in these videos and that his thighs are clad in a wetsuit in some of them. Some of the videos show very shallow water. Some with waves. Some calm.

Ruther had taken professional sailing lessons at marina beginning at age nine and owned his own Sunfish at age 12. Here’s a picture of him sailing it wearing a life jacket:

Ruther on Sailfish
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Here’s a picture of his kayak with name plates:

Ruther kayak
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He had inexpensive equipment and it’s reasonable to assume that he capsized and couldn’t reenter his kayak, but he certainly seemed to have been very experienced with small crafts in Peconic Bay. Actually, no autopsy report has been made public, so its not impossible that some other medical problem contributed to the death.

This tragedy shows that accidents can happen in cold waters and weather to anyone in any craft. Had he been in a skirted touring seakayak without a solid roll, the same thing could have happened to him. So also, it could have happened in an open canoe. While I have been a strong proponent of water safety my entire career in multiple canoes, kayaks and outriggers on all sorts of waters, I would not conclude that it is ipso facto dangerous to paddle Peconic Bay in a rec kayak or open canoe.

It is appropriate, however, as many in this thread have done, to point out the risk factors – the pluses and minuses – of various paddlecrafts.

#37

Discussion of paddling conditions likely to be found in the Peconic area included here.

http://www.sksaltd.com/launch.htm#uppeconicr1

#38

If Peconic Bay is not dangerous in winter, then it begs the question why did an experienced boater from the area dressed in a wet suit and a life jacket perish there?

#39

“If Peconic Bay is not dangerous in winter, then it begs the question why did an experienced boater from the area dressed in a wet suit and a life jacket perish there?”

No one has said that Peconic Bay can’t be dangerous in winter. Any open waterbody can be dangerous if wind or waves are high, especially when cold. Nor does anyone know why this accident happened. My guess is that he capsized and quickly got separated from the kayak by the wind. If he had been tethered to the kayak, he may have been able to empty it and climb back in, given that he was apparently a strong 18 year old.

#40

I know very little about the makes of SinK and SOT rec kayaks. But looking at the pictures of Ruther’s Pelican, it seems to be the kind that has bulkheaded or double-walled flotation and usually a drain plug that can venturi away water from the cockpit.

SinK or SOT
SinK or SOT1080×720 234 KB

SinK or SOT 2

If it is that kind of kayak, it is more puzzling why he couldn’t horse himself on top and slide into the big cockpit, or at least flop onto the capsized kayak and swim it. This convinces me more that he lost physical contact with the kayak and couldn’t catch it. Maybe also booze, drugs, an ill-fitting wetsuit. We just don’t know.