Sorry I missed it…I was there last year, but not this year. That said, you guys are awesome! Keep up the good work!
beautiful video, your website is a great resource
Nice site. Only thing that’s missing are PFDs.
@milespaddled said:
Thanks @fishboat1 and @tdaniel! Appreciate the kind words. As far as @rookie and the judgement - nobody should ever need to defend their own choice of when and when not to use a pfd, helmet, etc., - especially in a foot of water. Glad you do and we recommend doing so to others but never would we preach about it. Thanks!
I often think about a 21-year old guy, Tyler Spink. Last Labor Day weekend he and a buddy kayaked the lower Platte River, a calm, shallow river near the Sleeping Bear Dunes on Lake Michigan. No PFDs worn or carried. Just flotation seats; both were good swimmers and the river was shallow. They had a good time. Platte Bay was flat, glassy, and inviting so after they got off the river, they put in on the bay. Tyler’s body still hasn’t been found; his buddy was lucky to be rescued by some fisherman.
Tyler’s mother has organized a water safety symposium to be held at the mouth of the Platte River, where signage on the importance of wearing a PFD will be placed. Our new ACA State Director, Michael Gray, has arranged for a demo of the difficulties of putting on a life jacket while you’re in the water.
I laud Tyler’s mother for her strength and being proactive, and hope his body will be found this spring so the family can have some closure.
Some things are worth commenting on.
Have to agree with Rookie - you don’t need to preach about it, but it is helpful to set a good example. Rarely does a foot of water remain a foot of water…
Pfd use seems to be somewhat cultural, unfortunately. The river doesn’t care, but I do. In almost every imaginable situation, you are safer with a pfd on. So why not just wear it? Design has come a long way: allowing range of motion, comfort, and numerous options.
S@@T happens, simple as that.
Paddling is mostly an individual endeavor where you get to make your own choices but that doesn’t mean individuals make wise decisions. Ultimately, it is never just the individual, but also their families, friends, community and rescue personnel who are affected by poor decisions.
That’s right, I said it, Wearing a pfd is a good decision.
@milespaddled said:
nobody should ever need to defend their own choice of when and when not to use a pfd, helmet, etc., - especially in a foot of water. Glad you do and we recommend doing so to others but never would we preach about it.
Back in the days when Mitt Romney was the moderate Republican governor of MA, he was one of the architects of a market-based health insurance system that would become the model for what is now Obamacare. Back in those days, Mit was all about "personal responsibility", and he called folks without health insurance “freeloaders”, because the rest of us would have to pay for their care if they ever got sick or injured - so true. When Mitt ran for President, he had to move way to the right, he disavowed Romneycare (although the system works fine), and became all about “individual liberty” and the right not to purchase insurance. Guess what, the rest of us are still paying for the freeloaders.
I’ll admit that its a political example, but the same is true with paddling. The only time paddling is an individual endeavor is when you paddle alone. Otherwise its a group effort, and the group is going to help you if you get into trouble. Personally, I don’t want to be put at additional risk because someone didn’t think that they needed a PFD, and then got into trouble. Having proper safety equipment is one of the things that everyone should do when they show up for a trip. I don’t think it is unreasonable to expect that, or to call people out if they don’t.
Maybe it’s just my northeast liberalism showing…
Fortunately its not much of a problem around here - most everyone wears a PFD.
Video is great by the way.
PFDs have been a hot button issue on this site (pnet/paddling.com)going way back. It’s really not even debatable when it comes to whitewater or ocean surf. Flatwater? Well, on a deep lake nearby, guy goes out with his wife in a new canoe. Wife wears a PFD and but the guy was macho and didn’t want to wear one. He was known as an excellent swimmer and supposedly in good physical shape. Long story short: Canoe flips in middle of lake. Guy struggling to right boat has heart attack in the process and drowns. His poor wife floats to get help. Hubby is recovered by our local rescue squad hours later. I myself have been guilty of not wearing one in shallow water while swimming and playing around in boats. But tripping? --All the time, even on the tamest looking streams.
The video is great, but I agree it would behoove milespaddled to emphasize water safety, especially if recruiting enlistment for any group trips. Perhaps a shot like this one below, edited in here and there? >:)
.
Actually, what the hapless Max needs at least as much as a PFD is a bow bulkhead or a flotation bag stuffed in it. I often use that video to illustrate to newbs the folly of taking rec boats with open bow and/or stern out in water over your head.
It appears milespaddled doesn’t approve of the discussion concerning the basic safety requirement of a PFD as they edited their original post by removing the first video link featuring their travels and replacing it with the video of Max. A video which was posted here well over a year ago.
Hmmm…I thought an OP could only delete an entire thread if they didn’t like the replies–Didn’t know one could edit a topic heading completely AND also replace the original content with something entirely different…So you see, there’s always a new thing or two one can learn in the wonderful world of paddling. 
@spiritboat said:
Hmmm…I thought an OP could only delete an entire thread if they didn’t like the replies–Didn’t know one could edit a topic heading completely AND also replace the original content with something entirely different…So you see, there’s always a new thing or two one can learn in the wonderful world of paddling.
Yup. We don’t know what we don’t know. 
This video never gets old!
An outfitter I used to know had a client fall out of a rec boat in the middle of Jocassee. She refused to get back in the boat, with help of course, until he pointed out to her how far she would have to swim.
Must have been related to video guy.
@string said:
An outfitter I used to know had a client fall out of a rec boat in the middle of Jocassee. She refused to get back in the boat, with help of course, until he pointed out to her how far she would have to swim.
Must have been related to video guy.
Can you imagine? I mean, there’s some towing to have to do. That’s a big lake! Ha ha!
It is a funny video.
I didn’t think the video was funny the first time I saw it, and a second viewing reconfirmed that opinion.
The guy in the video is not funny; he’s pathetic, and exhibits a lot of the characteristics of the “chronic victim”.
BOB
“Max” is a bit of a drama queen. Hysterical hyperbole is part of his personality. He and his female friend (not girlfriend, Max is apparently gay) have made other videos, including one that somewhat explains the kayak fiasco. I give him credit for being willing to make a complete ass of himself on a public forum – the video is a useful tool for demonstrating the classic “Cleopatra’s Needle” effect of a no-bulkhead kayak.
Mad Max is out.
Not a marsh warrior.
There go two red size 10 Crocs.
Could film be any gorier?
OK, Sarah,
can ya be Max’s yak-yak mamma?
He prances to see sportin’ p-f-d.
(that’s personal flame-on drama)
Cleopatra’s Needle? As in Le RISK Obelisque? Pitons of a Lesser OMG? The Stilted Stigma of Sturgeons? Or perhaps, “Gray Thing Down!!!” (if Titantic Disasters of the Pamlico 14 Armada was on your reading list)