I thought they were all in Florida.
They donāt like bacon and cannoli, thatās a fact. Avoid sardines or anchovi pizza. Wash your hsnds and brudh your teeth if you do indulge. You donāt want them to bite your face. Theyāre found in cold water.
Grandpa always had me wear mine. And I always have.
Then I was in a rec sit on top kayak being stupid in a Superior bay and tipped. Before Iād even figured out what happened my PFD had me bobbing along with plenty of breathing room. My head was briefly under and Iām a strong swimmer but I wasnāt expecting it.
Iāve gotten a lot less stupid since then
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They see us, they hate and resent us. ;). That is what I finally saw clearly.
The only real solution is bike paths separated from cars with medians or concrete barriers.
Otherwise, there will be no ābike to work day.ā (in the USA)
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This only works well when the ābike pathā is really wide, otherwise you have to watch out for other cyclists 
So far I only have experienced serious accidents with other cyclists and not carsā¦
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I get your point. I liked the bike paths in Victoria and Vancouver island though.
Experienced paddlers have precedent to fall back on and most likely have handled situations where the boat overturned or similsr emergencies. Having experienced unexpected incidents, its easy to dismiss concerns base on past performance. On the other hand, an inexperienced boater most likely has never faced an incident.
It reminds me of training to don a gas mask in the military. The time today is 15 seconds with a hood or 9 seconds without hood. I recall 7 seconds as the time, but dont recall if that was self imposed, reduced by our cadre, or if it was lengthened to meet quotas. I just remember the need to keep a cool head, even if exposed to chemicals, because it was your best hope.
Itās hard to imagine a novice overturning for the first time without a PFD in place. Its not an issue if you can stand, but another thing if in swampy or heavily silted areas, where the water is fast moving, in a ripping tide, where wind is gusting to 10 or 20 mph, or a combination of factors. Now instead of focusing on retrieving your paddle (if it floats), your hat, water bottles, the boat and retrieving the PFD, you have to contend with did it fall free, is it trapped behind the seat, lashed to the deck, in a bulkhead, water trapping it inside the hull and the straps are entangled with foot pegs. Fellow paddlers have overturned as well. Once you recover your PFD, tread water with your shoes or booties on (recall a recent dire warning from a forum member about that), untangle the bloody straps and just go under to put it on, but the PFD floats. Wiggle around, hope the waves are under 12 inches, look around to see if the other gear is drifting out of reach. Should you play with the PFD, or at least get the paddle or the boat. Itāll only take a minute. If the waves are 18 inches, you lost sight of your paddle in 7 seconds. Take your time. You have the rest of your life to solve the problem.
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I care about the example I set for others, even above my own safety. I donāt want to encourage reckless behavior that gets someone else killed. I take wearing a PFD, practicing deep water re-entry, and dressing for immersion very seriously. (E.g. When I see fishermen at a local boat ramp wearing t-shirts when thereās 40 degree water, I swim test my cold water gear right in front of them.)
What initially convinced me, though, was paddling a local Class II river. I could see places where an unexpected swim would be very dangerous. So I started wearing it everywhere, whether Iām running rapids, surfing waves on the Great Lakes, poking around a shoreline, or lilly dipping on a pond.
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All of them. Just go swim some moving water and practice some rescues and you will get the message in a hurry.
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