The track I practice has a .25 mile flat across Battery Point. The tide doesnt affect the zone since it is perpendicular to the direction of paddle. However, a south wind piles the waves up against the shore and the water is only a few feet deep. That builds the height. To prevent water from entering the side of the cockpit, I lift my right thigh to edge the boat on the left and ride the waves. It works because I stay far enough from the shoreline, where waves are not so high enough to curl and smack down on the boat. That is where I take a water break on the outbound and return trip to divide the tracks woth a notable down spike on the graph.
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Ideally, that’s true. But if a paddler has dependents at home, then choosing not to wear a PFD puts them at more risk too. Of course, in some situations the dependents might be quite OK with that! 
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Like many choices we make in life . We had a local Samaritan stop to push a vehicle out of a flooded street and got sucked into a blown out manhole and into the sewers. No one could find him for days and much effort was invested in his bodies recovery we own risk in life in every choice we make
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Ha touché !
But gosh, there are so many things that are similar, there just seems like an outsized bit of nanny-ism on this particular one. I wear it always. And I haven’t exactly heard any compelling reasons not to.
But, heck, people do drugs, smoke pot, smoke cigarettes, play loud music in their ears, rock climb, extreme ski, spend xx hours looking at a screen, don’t wear sunscreen, drive fast, drink alcohol, eat processed food, drive slow in left lane, don’t signal, pass on the right, spray lawn chemicals without long pants…etc And in some cases I have to also suffer the consequences of those actions unwillingly. But that is how life is.
My neighbor chastised me for not having an electric vehicle, since I call myself a tree hugger. Yet my car is 15 years old and is driven sparingly, well maintained. She gets a new vehicle every year because she wants fresh batteries (she has some $). Of course, when I highlighted to her that such annual purchases of an EV do more enviro damage than my 15 year old honda, and that her electricity is not fuel, but has to be created by fuel that now strains the entire grid, she backed off in a huff.
Well there I went–a long response and that doesn’t matter. Sorry bout that. Wear a PFD–it does make sense. If you don’t, I am not sure why you don’t. But I am not sure why people smoke etc either.
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Personal choice. If we lived in a true dictatorship, we could be forced to avoid difficult situations. North Korea is a great example. I saw a report that they built a wall and only six people were able to escape. The rest do as they’re told. I feel sorry for the people coming here. They don’t realize how bad it is, but at least they can leave once they figure it out. I’m going for a paddle. Enjoy the discussion.
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When I go snorkeling I always have a BC on. Part of the safety gear for SCUBA as well.
BC (buoyancy compensator) can be manually inflated or in an emergency with CO2 cartridges for those who might not be SCUBA folks.
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Really what is a dry suit or a wet suit or a PFD. They are all garments designed for certain conditions. Living up on the great lakes 30 miles south in a rural area we are subjected to some brutal winter weathers with tons of snow and temps way below zero. there are many times as my car heats up quickly and going to run to the store and feel I’m toughened to the weather I take off way underdressed assuming no unforeseen problems. I also have in the back seat a winter parka, gloves and winter boots just in case. That’s kind of the PFD behind the seat back with the difference when I get stuck in snow 5 miles from anyplace I have the luxury of taking 5 minutes and suiting up that I wouldn’t get in my canoe.
You have no idea how many times when I had my 4WD plow truck I would find people stuck in frigid temps with nothing but a spring jacket. Sometimes short pants and often with little kids not at all ready to spend the night in the car. I get it it’s not comfortable driving with full artic gear on just as it is not as free paddling with a PFD messing up your tan lines. Around here I actually think the sun tanning plays a role in this.
The Coast Guard is ok with you just having one with you who am I to say putting it on and off as conditions change isn’t a valid approach. The only problem I have here is most people don’t know their limits or they just do what the others they are with do.
Last year we tagged along with some people we know and a lady was with us about 50 years old and her first time floating the river. Most of the group we didn’t know well and none of them wore a PFD. I had mine on and she came to me confused and asked if she should wear hers or not. I said well that’s up to you are you a strong swimmer? She said no she couldn’t swim hardly at all. I said well what do you think you should do? She put it on. Later in the day I asked her if it was bothering her wearing it and she said no she forgot it was even on and she actually felt she was having more fun because she wasn’t worrying.
I pick my battles on this subject.
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I wouldn’t think of leaving the dock without a skirt. Wrong direction in waves you’ll take on water.
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I did today with gusts to 30 knots. That’s why I carry a sponge.
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So in rough water a sponge gets the water out? You stop to sponge it out or paddle like Richard Kimble?
I have no plumb now hulls.
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I was curious, that’s all… I have seen people wear PFD’s, I see people not wear PFD’s. Everyone has one onboard, which is good to see, but it just made me wonder.
If I’m out in a big lake 40, 50, 60’ feet… DUH! You know I’m going to wear my PFD!
But then if I’m in a gentle flowing river, 3’ deep, and it’s hot blazing summertime, I won’t wear it, but have it (obviously) on my kayak with me.
I only took on a gallon of water. That won’t sink a boat. I was expecting less wind, but I didn’t feel like slowing down for a gallon of water. Water temp was 82° and the air temp was 94°. The spray wasn’t unwelcome!
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Many paddlers would never abandon their boat. Modern boats have flotation built in, and staying with the boat offers the best chance of being spotted. Someone who feels they are in control of their situation might feel staying with the boat offers all the flotation that’s necessary.
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Part of kayaking is reading the conditions. I’ve posted an image here demonstrating the waterline and had somebody scold us for not having the skirt on. *We were ten feet from shore *
The vitriol is akin to masking and signaling deeper social division. Public health policy coercion is known to be counterproductive so setting what you believe to be a good example is probably more effective.
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Some conditions you can’t read because they are not there yet when you leave.
Adults make choices, their own choices. Kids are a different story. I’ll warn an inexperienced adult and kids I’ll call the Coast Guard .
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That’s why you have to understand the environment, read the signs, compensate for the unexpected, know your abilities and limitations, and exercise options.
Taking risks is a part of living for many, but it’s something to be avoided by others. My paddling environment is far less demanding than taking on white water in a canoe.
The unexpected for me yesterday was wind 10 mph greater than expected. That slowed my first leg by .5 mph, but that deficit was recovered from the assist going in the opposite direction. I saw a group of three paddlers at a point about a mile out. When I caught and passed them, they had only made about 100 feet of progress. A second unexpected event was the wind direction veering from southwest to west. So rather than gaining an assist at the end of my trip, I ended up paddling directly into stronger wind and waves. That was the only feature of the trip that impacted the outcome, which added 10 minutes to my overall time. There’s a big difference between issues faced on a two hour paddle compared to a 6 hour paddle across open water.
Each person has to evaluate the risk. I have no doubt there are members who can face virtually any challenge they encounter. Once you accept the risk, it’s up to you to deal with the consequences. Put in perspective, paddling a kayak in bumpy water is far less consequential than a Firefighter entering a burning building. I sure don’t consider water splashing into my boat to be a catastrophe, but my inability to handle the situation would.
Whether we agree with someone taling risks or not, we at least owe them the respect to honor their confidence. Reading some of MohaveFlyer’s comments, perhaps Americans are too pampered.
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You’ve just illustrated an important point, akin to @bud16415.
The conditions caught you off guard.
While you started your paddle without a spray skirt in conditions you didn’t think warranted one, you still took on a small amount of water when the wind kicked up which you were comfortable with. What would have happened had the conditions worsened? At what point would it have become problematic with the gear you had?
I’m just opining here, NOT telling any of y’all what you should do, but I’d rather be prepared than try to figure it out if I’ve misjudged or underestimated conditions.
Every so often someone makes a comment about all the gear I’ve got with me on every single paddle. I explain to them that experience has taught me people think it’s amusing right up to the point they unexpectedly break a paddle and need my spare or realize the wind is making them colder than they imagined and need to borrow my cag.
My favorite one is a paddle with a highly respected local instructor and outfitter. We rafted up to check our charts and he tucked his euro paddle between the hulls. When we resumed our trip….his paddle was gone. It had floated out from between our kayaks on a fairly calm day with minimally swell while we weren’t looking. The guy had to paddle 5 miles back home with my spare GL paddle.
We joke about it now - we’re sure there’s an osprey nest on the Chesapeake with an expensive paddle holding it together - but that spare paddle, carried by someone who is a ‘just in case’ thinker, kept me from towing someone back to the launch.
Luck is the convergence of preparation and forethought.
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Agreed - some pictures from a trip yesterday. Six of us - we all put our PFD’s on at the start of the trip , and took them off at the end. There was no debate about whether a PFD was needed, not needed or no longer needed. This river does start with an easy rapid (that I swam in the tandem), but it is followed by 7 miles of flatwater that is probably 4-6 feet deep and 30 feet wide. We didn’t encounter anything unexpected, but if we had we were prepared. It doesn’t have to be complicated.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/eckilson/albums/72177720318173990
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@anon47962293, the unexpected did happen, but I accessed the conditions as acceptable and rather than slow down, I plowed through the surf and endured. I understood the conditions within the first 1/4 mile because my speed was down by at least .5 mph. I knew the wind gusts were over 25 mph and the Hammerman channel would have waves between 24 and 30 inches. That’s well within the 175 Tsunami’s capability. The 145 not so much, but it woukd still be manageable without the spray skirt. I don’t go out in rough stuff. The three paddlers I encountered would have had real problems if they had managed to get out to the point and then had to get back in after the wind veered.
I know exactly what I’m facing. I can tell you the force and direction of the wind and direction of the tide by the graph charts. Compare the past three trips. The red arrow is deploying the rudder. The drop in section 1 is hitting the full force of a southern wind or the incoming tide parting when it hits the point, then the rise is the nuetral zone, the down spike is a water break, and the rise in section 2 is wind and/or tidal assist. The drop in section 3 is how I handle going into the tide and wind. Flat means it was a 10 to 15 mph day. The two heavy drop spikes were gusts upward of 30 mph. The turn with the green “W” was a strong west wind. To keep water out of the boat, I could drop speed by one mph. I’d rather take on water than slow down.
I look for a spike at the end of the trip. If I finish higher than the average speed, I still had glycogen stores in the muscles. If it drops at the end, I went anaerobic during the trip.
Considering my slow start at 3.8 mph, I handled the wind and waves fairly well. I entered the last leg at 4.4 mph avg and would have made up the .1 mph on the final run, but you see what the west wind did to my speed.
I’m surprised that so many forum members are not confident with the GPS output or in using it to manage performance. Handling conditions depends on knowing what those conditions will do to your speed, and knowing how to manage your energy reserves. The common solution that I hear is paddle harder. I dont follow that strategy, because it depletes your vital energy reserves. I keep that reserve until the last one or two miles. I was nowhere near needing a spray skirt yesterday.
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I do not understand where you are getting wind speeds and wave heights, but I could not find anything near what you describe over the past 5 days. A 30" wave would have been over your head when sitting in the trough in a kayak. A wave of this size can dump significantly more that a mere gallon of water in most kayaks if not wearing a spray skirt. I would not want to stop to pump out the water in such conditions, let alone use a sponge. Conditions like you describe are near that today, 6/24, on the open Bay along with small craft warnings.
It only takes a few inches of water sloshing about in most kayaks to significantly reduce its stability.
Using a kayak for floatation in a capsize situation works fine if you do not lose your grip on the kayak in waves on a windy day, all while trying to keep hold of a paddle and any loose gear. Lose your grip on the boat even for a second or two will have the boat, and possibly your PFD, blow away faster than you can swim. You may say this will never happen, but it does all the time to people. If you are paddling solo you are probably SOL. Imagine someone spotting a floating head in significant waves.
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