Don’t listen to him
Most people paddle in places where such swimming skills and endurance capability are completely unnecessary. I don’t believe that more than one or two of the paddlers I know can do what he says is “necessary”.
If you paddle quite far from shore, you can learn the skills that will keep you from needing to swim for very long at all. Paddling rivers is a pretty common thing for many people, and on most rivers, shore is never all that far away. On lakes, you can make the decision to stay within your own margin of safety, such as deciding what’s the maximum distance you are willing to go from shore during particular weather/water conditions. You don’t need to be able to qualify for Iron Man competitions just to be safe in a kayak.
Bad example
They’re not wearing PFDs.
Thanks to all for advice!
– Last Updated: Sep-16-14 10:14 AM EST –
Everything has been so helpful! The demo's you mentioned sound great, I will definitely have to do that.
I feel like everyone has really given me encouragement that at least it CAN be done- solo paddling at my age and size. Now I just need to take the next step and get some lessons, the proper safety gear, etc... and I'll be on my way! My daughter (who is 8) and was anti-kayak is now at least opened to the idea of trying it with a group tour for beginners. I guess I'll start a new post since it's a different topic with it's own set of questions!