Oh, by the way, I have also pulled
dead bodies out of the river. I promise not to discriminate against yours.
not enough manpower…
is nonsense IMO.
Around here in NJ (with the highest property taxes in the nation), there are plenty of highly paid resources (ie-police,fireman,EMS) floating around not doing much of anything.
Not responding properly in most situations is due more to incompetence, poor management, adhering to outdated methods, adhering to no method, or sheer laziness, than a lack of resources.
Make that missing person a Senators’ son/daughter & watch the resources flow.
(I am not wrecking civil service employees as I am one myself, just lazy do-nothings who won’t do what they signed up to do while getting paid handsomely to do so)
This was clearly a murder or NC death
An experienced paddler would normally be okay in those conditions. Dressed in a camouflage PFD with warm clothes and a flashlight. He must have been close to shore. Time will show that this man was murdered or died of natural causes.
dude, are you for real?
You wrote for a paddling club newsletter (who hasn’t) which I doubt qualifies you for a Pulitzer. You seem pretty presumptious about others’ writing and paddling skills which doesn’t reflect very well on your character.
Well,
– Last Updated: Dec-12-06 8:12 PM EST –
it's apparent that you don't live in the PNW where this happens multiple times every week. Our tax dollars hard at work, to fund those who go out and need rescuing. I guess that's a different thread althogether, though.
Rvwen, how do you like the coverage of the missing Mt. Hood climbers? I swear the PNW draws more people that lack common sense then anywhere else in the nation. Must be some kind of terrorist plot.
Whatever g2d…
Quit whining… who are you, the “Forum Police”?
ATTENTION EVERYONE: “g2d” was an editor!!! He’s way smarter than all of us… His opinion is also WAY more “worthy”… 
CONFORM to his Forum policies… Or Else… 
except…
that reasonable strong paddlers make mistakes every day. I see it all the time with my club. They don’t pay attention to something, conditions are different than last time, they forget an important piece of gear, etc. For all we know, he landed on a shore to hunt arrowheads, slipped on mud on the shore, fell and hit his head on a rock and then floated away from shore a bit. I see experienced paddlers slip on mud all the time. We have one launch/landing popular with our club where one out of five people will slip in the mud on an average trip.
This is one of the reasons that people always recommend paddling in groups. And leaving a detailed float plan. And preparing for the worst case scenario. And being visable. There’s alot of advice in the OP.
Died of Hypothermia
State Toxicologist did the autopsy…
reality check
In my experience g2d is either a troll or a deeply troubled person.
Responding to anything he posts only encourages him.
He can, however, be an entertaining read – provided you’re not the person he’s attacking!
Well…
– Last Updated: Dec-13-06 9:46 PM EST –
you've got to be kidding me, paying the highest property taxes in the country to the most corrupt politicians in the country, we're all idiots in NJ.
People get saved from themselves all the time around here (& they don't wait 48hrs for it to happen either), you just don't hear about it in the media like you do with West Coast events.
I guess between all the shootings & stabbings & rapings & corruption, planes flying into buildings & tunnels collasping, there isn't much local airtime left for the lost.
With the biggest park in the country here in the N/E (Adirondack Park), believe me, it happens here too.
But waiting 48hrs, come on now.....
does anyone else hear?
the world’s smallest violin?
I probably won’t
hear it,
unless it’s playing for you.
question
Have you been angry all your life or is it something that just developed with age?
My advice…
– Last Updated: Dec-14-06 10:16 AM EST –
,,,is to avoid the State of Alabama completely.
While it has some pretty parts and nice rivers, it is filled with Alabamites, and even worse, Tide fans.
I recommend Tennessee which is very close by. Much prettier (with the Great Smokies and all), much nicer people, and it's the sworn enemy of the Rolling Tide!
(I'll bet this happened on Sunday after a football weekend when the whole state was hung over from trying to drink away the shame of their lost football glory!)
umm…
– Last Updated: Dec-14-06 2:12 PM EST –
...you posted a reply to your own message. This is kind of a forum faux pas. Just wanted to point that out to save you the embarrassment (you being an editor and all). If you need help deleting it let me know...
exactly
Most of these outcomes can be tracked back to bad decision making. I guess we can also look at it as risk (unreasonable or reasonable).
I agree
I’m definitely not the smartest dude in the world. Sometimes I’ve let my skill and past successes influence my judgement a little too much and have been lucky to escape with relatively little damage (like staying alive). He certainly did some things that were not smart and increased his risk, all of wich have been documented by above posters, but “idiot” and “moron” etc I think are just psychological reactions to try to reinforce the seperation of why “he” died kayaking and “we” won’t die kayaking.
Bad Advice
It’s foolish to judge people based on the state they happen to live in. I’ve seen it done on this board several times and don’t agree. It’s not realistic to paint everyone with such a wide brush. By the way, I don’t live in Alabama.
Some more information…
I talked to someone in the press and they said (from what they had heard) that the “friend” filed a general missing persons report, not a missing kayaker/boater report. His car was found at the launch area, then the river rescue/search was begun.
So although you may love to rag on Alabama, I’m sure that anywhere in the country would have waited whatever the period for being missing policy is in effect.
How about we take up a collection for
this poor soul and send it to his family?
I’ll put up the first $10.00
Suntan