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===== Winter Rescue (Re: Digest Number 283) =====

**kathleen petereit** \\
12/03/05 #825

On your topic of safety, I found a deck bag that is tapered and fits perfectly on the back of my ski, right behind my seat. I found that keeping safety supplies in my hatch was difficult to access if you are unable to get back in your boat.\\
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I have flares, mirror, flashlight, 2 foil bags with the hood, matches, candle, extra set of clothes, clear packing tape, energy bars and cell phone. The VHF is on my christmas wish list. We paddle out around islands and did have an incident at the end of last winter.\\
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Two of us were out in 27 degree F air temp, good winds and chop, about 300 yards from land…not far, just a few min to swim if in trouble right ???? Well over I go, my well experienced buddy is about 200 yds in front of me. Even though I had practiced remounting many times and was good at it, the shock of the cold stiffened me up so fast after 2 tries I could not get back on. My grip was really weak, chop was going over my head, the ski was blowing, I had a leash on both my ankle and paddle and lifejacket on ( good thing ).\\
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I blow my whistle which he barely heard because of the wind. He whips around, holds my ski steady, but by then I have barely any strength, I am feeling toasty warm now and quite happy and saying stupid things. He is really worried now. He hooks my ski to his and I swim in to shore and he pulls my ski in. I drag myself out onto the rocks and he pulls the ski's up. This happened in a matter of minutes. I change to dry clothes and so does he. He hugs me and warms me up for a few min then we head off again, home to safety.\\
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It is 26 degrees here now and we have snow. We will not paddle unless there are three of us in this weather, we went out tues while it was snowing and it was beautiful looking back at the city covered in snow. We stay about 10 meters apart and about 100 meters from land. This summer we practised rescue techniques which Jerome Truran advised us on.\\
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One was, if your ski is damaged, you can get on the back of your partner's ski and tow your ski. This works well. Great work out for the person paddling !\\
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Clear packing tape is the best for sealing cracks. I dont go anywhere without it.\\
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I have a good friend Mike Flesher, who is a paddler, ER physician and is on the Search and Resue team. He said we have about 15 min till death from hypothermia here in the winter if we dump.\\
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Oh and by the way, my paddle buddies always used to tease me about all the "crap" I pack…said it was a girl thing. The following week they had all the "crap" in their boats !\\
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Kathleen

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**lbussinger50 <lbussinger@…>** \\
12/03/05 #828

Just as a point of clarification, don't think I won't stop and help someone if possible, I've done it many times. However, as a working hypothesis, it's better to think that no one may be able to help you. Even Kathleen (and Shane Baker once) went out with someone and conditions were such that no one knew they went in (almost in Kathleen's case and in fact in Shanes). It sounds like Kathleen is trying to shift the odd's in her favor with the goodie bag. Good thinking on her part.

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**Re: Digest Number 283** \\
**mike Gregory <falloff999@…>** \\
12/03/05 #829

Kathleen:

Well said! Thanks for recounting your tale about your "incident" last winter. Your list of safety items is clearly well thought out. What I'm wondering is, how did your paddling friend tow your ski?

Guess I need to add a little something, pardon me. Although the leash is undoubtedly paramount in rough conditions, two leashes are not advisable. Such an arrangement invites a tangle that could make remounting much more difficult. A paddle leash has the advantage of allowing the paddler to use both hands to remount and then retrieve the paddle once you're back on the ski with both feet dangling in the water to provide stability.

Thanks to everyone for the excellent dialog on safety. So timely with the winter paddling we are doing.

Best Regards, Mike Gregory

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**Re: Digest Number 284\\
kathleen petereit** \\
12/04/05 #832

Mike,\\
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We used the leash I had attached to my ankle to tow the ski in and dragged my paddle still attached to the boat. He attached it to his bungee behind his seat. This was not easy for Nathan as it was rough water and my ski was blowing around bumping his etc. And at the same time he was trying to stay right beside me to make sure I did not pass out.\\
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I no longer use two leashes. Another thing you can do in really rough water is line up your ski's, cockpit to cockpit and put your closest leg in his ski and vice versa. This locks you in quite snugly, you can then paddle like a canoe and are super stable. We had fun practising this.\\
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The thing is to go out and practise. Next spring at our thurs night races we are going to have a rescue race with teams of two. Should be interesting to see what techniques everyone uses ! Nathan and I plan on kicking butt in this one…..he is a surfskier that moved here from the Carabbean last year and wears neoprene ( long leg and long sleeve ) in the middle of summer and feels just right !
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