After following the thread about the Cape Cod tragedy and the ensuing discussion of what can be done to prevent future occurrences, some of the comments and concepts stuck in some of the crannies of my brain and have been itching.

I hope people find some of the following comments useful and/or thought-provoking. I apologize in advance for any oversimplifications or misunderstandings of other peoples ideas. I also may be repeating points already made by others.

I can offer my perspective on some of these issues using myself as a novice kayaker and SOF builder, as an example and some inputs and comparisons with some other beginner paddler/.builders. Unfortunately, none of my friends/acquaintances are just paddler/buyers. The other complication is the ever fun, observation influences experiment predicament... asking the questions educates the questionee. :)

One thing to remember, is simply by having the interest to seek out this board (or others) we are in the minority, and that alters our perspectives on the discussion. For some background on me as a baseline, I've paddled about once a year on 'tours' for about 5 years, recently completed an SOF, have 5 or 6 kayak building books (and have read them), a couple of general kayaking books (and have read them), subscribe to (and read) Sea Kayaker, read the KBBBS and Greenland Forums, and subscribe to baidarkalist and Paddlewise. (Now that I think about it, I'm surprised I kayak, it just ain't safe. :) ) I always wear a PFD, and know enough to have float bags in my Baidarka. I can't roll, know the theory of how to reenter a kayak, but have no deck lines (yet), no paddle float, and no practice. I also only paddle on a small protected lake that I could swim to any shore from the center of the lake if I had to.

My other 'examples' are Chris, who built a open deck CLC double (can't remember the model), about 10 years ago and just messes about, very occasionally, and John, who built a Pygmy Coho with his son a few years ago, essentially with no external input (KBBBS, etc...).

1. There is always someone who doesn't get the word.
All of my comments are based on the fact that we will never reach everyone, but that the goal is to reach as may people as we can.
The people I see as the biggest 'problem' are the 'one-offs', the renters or borrowers that get no advice or education, and the person who goes on a paddling tour that doesn't adequately discuss safety, then buys a boat, with no advice about safety. Builder's aren't perfect, but I suspect that a higher proportion of people who build their own boats are at list slightly aware of the risks inherent in paddling. I could be completely wrong.

2. Knowing what to do, and doing it, are two completely different things.
I know 'Cotton Kills', but until I managed to fall of the back of my kayak getting out (with an audience, so that rule was obeyed) I blew off any thought of modifying my paddling clothing. It's amazing how heavy a thick pair of blue jeans get. It would have been 'interesting' in the middle of the lake. I'm now looking into something more appropriate.

3. Clubs. Hmmmm...
I guess I'm anti-social, but most of the time, I want to go paddling to avoid group dynamics issues. Whoever pointed out that for some/most people going to a club can be intimidating hit the nail on the head for me, anyway... The idea of clubs offering lower 'intimidation' basic skills clinics is a great idea. But... How do you reach people to tell them about these clinics? I don't go into any store regularly, thanks to the wonder of the internet. Neither of my two 'examples' have any contact with the community that way either. How would you reach them?
If, and I can't say I disagree with this, a good club is great and a bad club is worse than useless, how would a novice paddler know any differently? How can we prevent that paddler from learning 'bad' habits? How can clubs be influenced to provide good practices? How does someone without Google, who doesn't participate in the community find a club? I looked briefly at a couple of the local (Seattle area) club websites and note that I can find little or no mention of safety, requirements for participation or recommendations for safety products, etc... Trip evaluation matrixes don't count. Great, you've established that a "Paddler 3" or above can go on the paddle. What should they bring, wear, etc...

4. Informational signs are probably a great idea.
The lake I paddle at has a very small boat launch (it only allows no combustion engine craft). I don't think I've actually seen anyone without a PFD now that I think about it, but a laminated sign with basic information and safety information would be a good way to get the information out to the users of the site. But... How do you get to all of the sites? If someone were to write a one page paddling safety summary, would we as a community be willing to print, laminate, and post these? Is there a better way to get these posted, and would the previous method cause problems?

5. Educate, don't proselytize. I mentioned to Chris the idea of a laminated 'note' page. I really like the idea of an easy handheld reference, so you can make sure you transmit the information rapidly and accurately. The biggest wince out of him was the thought that the person with the card would be proselytizing and badgering users. He was of on the 'set the example' option of the PFD/noPFD argument, so if you're talking, bring it up. Don't walk up and start badgering people. How 'bout a variant of the idea, something like a trifold information 'brochure. Again with the question about the willingness to print, and distribute the material.

6. Vendor Influence When I asked Chris about what would have gotten his attention and educated him about this, he mentioned what others have is that if CLC had sent him a "Big Orange envelope" with the plans to his kit, he would have read it and it might have educated him. Does doing something like this transfer legal liability to the Vendor in our wonderfully litigious society?

7. An Open Letter on Floatation Is there enough of a consensus about the fact that production boats should have floatation of some sort as 'standard issue' that we could (or should) draft an open letter to manufacturers requesting this? What would we recommend; bulkheads, foam, floatation bags? Would doing this create problems for plan designers and builders?

8. Freedom
Education is the answer I think. What I would hate to see is the loss of our freedom to make our own decisions. As a number of people have pointed out on this and other boards, people of different skill sets, locations, and boat usages have different needs and desires. What is safe for some of you out there would get me killed in about as long as it took for hypothermia to set in...

9. Rental Vendor Responsibilities
I personally agree that rental and tour vendors have a responsibility to ensure that paddlers of their equipment are properly equipped and educated. How do we make this happen? Requiring an orientation for every rental is a great idea, but what happens if you rent there regularly? You're not going to want to take the 'training' and they probably won't make you because 'he comes here all the time, just sign off on the sheet'. What if you go to rent and you are a BCU 5 Star, should you have to take the class? Probably not, but what about someone who takes a less 'formal' class, say at the Kayak Academy, or NWOC, and then goes to another vendor to rent, say on a trip? How do you convince vendors to be morally responsible and take the hit to the bottom line and refuse to rent?

10. Kayaking vs Mountain Climbing
Novice kayakers do stupid things, as compared to other some other sports, for the reason that someone on the board already stated... That is that, say mountain climbing, has a pretty obvious failure penalty. Obviously potential injury or death tends to make people pay attention.

11. Materials with Kayak Sales
Including a copy of a DVD as someone suggested, or a Book (Deep Trouble probably) isn't a bad idea, but how do you ensure that the they actually read/watch it?

Wow, that turned into a lecture, my apologies.
Questions, comments, bitches, and gripes welcome.
I'll deal with formatting issues and add clarifications and comments to this as necessary.
Aaron Cunningham
acunning@seanet.com