In this chapter we are exposed to a story of how tides and the dynamics they cause on the water can reap with kayakers. The gist of this story is that that the kayakers involved in the incident encounter some unexpected conditions and end up in the water. Again, the idea here is to read along in the book so I am not going into the whole story on the blog. One thing that fascinated me in this story is that the paddlers involved were complete aware of the tides and were actually making good us of them to their advantage. Matt goes into great detail and analysis of this incident.
This chapter was exceptionally interesting to me as I have only paddled on Lake Michigan and Lake Superior. As such, tides are not an issue. Wind and weather are the main factors I tend to watch when paddling and planning a trip.
While researching for this post I came across a very well done video by Bryant Burkhardt padding in the tides of San Francisco Bay. Bryant has posted some great comments on this blog already and has a great blog of his own.
This chapter got me thinking about a few key questions and I would like to hear from as many people as possible on these. So please comment!
What are some resources you are aware of related to tides, water conditions, and weather?
How do you determine how to dress for paddling?
What stories do you have where something you overlooked caused a serious problem on the water?
Should you ever paddle without a PFD? Do you ever paddle sans a PFD?
Have you ever run into anyone paddling not wearing a PFD and said something to them. How well did you know this person? How did they react?
Look forward to hearing from you all!
Rick Isaacson
BTW: I will be posting a bit more often than weekly going forward for this title.
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