Cold Water Safety in Northern Michigan with Michael Gray.

A well done TV short with a good explanation of proper attire and craft for spring paddling in our cold water. A brave young woman getting out of the kayak, even with a dry suit, in 34 deg. water. A nice job on the rescue as well.

https://www.9and10news.com/2019/04/24/spring-kayak-safety-over-100-drowning-related-deaths-in-2018/?fbclid=IwAR3M4Nccwo1UzMFOUx7vlFYb56kubwsSMjIuSET12klWN2YmNyuSP03fkE4

Good video. Kudos to the reporter for doing that cold water dunk. Station should have let Michael write the text.

For what it’s worth, of the 117 Great Lakes drownings in 2018, eight involved kayaks.

Good bit of valuable advice for the gentleman in the Chesapeake Bay article. https://paddling.com/learn/miracle-on-the-chesapeake/?utm_source=paddling.com+subscriber+list&utm_campaign=eb2de31e36-PaddleNews_05%2F01%2F19&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f2ead8a079-eb2de31e36-213088089&mc_cid=eb2de31e36&mc_eid=37166a3c5e
Not difficult to come up with could have/should have/would haves. I do admire his determination out there. I agree that it could be any one of us on some day at some point for any variety of reasons. It’s impossible to always be prepared for everything. But I imagine he will do a much better job of mitigating risks going forward. That’s a guy you would love to have telling his story around a campfire at a club outing or symposium.

The news splashed all over the kayaking and social pages about the Chesapeake Bay boating accident, first and foremost is about a fisherman who was in a “kayak” and NOT about a kayaker who was out fishing. Big difference as you can read by what he was paddling and his entire misfortune on the water. The media, however is treating this as a kayaking accident simply because the boat was a toy kayak. NOBODY in their right kayaking mind would take a 10’ kayak out two miles from shore,. This entire story, with a thankful and marginally instructive core to it, is mostly sensationalism and expressed stupidity. While they elude to some of the safety elements this guy failed to follow, they passed on even a brief overview of some key kayaking safety issues they could have at least mentioned. The media is dummying down too many stories and focusing on the National Enquirer aspects of these events. Glad at least that they re being published and posted to show people what little regard and awareness most people have of what actually is “kayaking” and what it’s all about. There is a BIG difference between a capable kayaker who fishes from his/her boat and a fisherman/woman who uses a pedal-powered sit-on-top or one of these short, cheapies, and thinks they are “kayaking”!