Hi Folks,

There's been some interesting discussion on the APEs bulletin board, generated by the death of Dale Herrick a few weeks ago. For those of you unfamiliar, she was a veteran boater and instructor of 20 years who got in the river near a dock to roll and try out some new equipment in calm water. She was alone. A group of paddlers downstream discovered her when her upside down boat floated down to them. Upon turning her over they discovered her grabloop was sealed inside her skirt.

Because this discussion seemed relevant I thought I would steal some of it and post over here.

Hanley


From APE_Trips on Yahoo Groups:
Jed Mallard Wrote:

After reading about this incident Joe Harrison and I decided to give it
a try on the river the other weekend. Although I've heard this topic
discussed in SWR courses I had never actually tried to remove a spray
skirt with the gab loop folded inside the cockpit. What I've always
heard suggested was:

1) Prevention: Meaning always check before entering current. I run my
hands along the cockpit to check that any PFD straps, tow tether, etc
has not found its way under the skirt and tug on the grab loop.
This was explained to me in a SWR when I first started paddling and I
guess now it has just become habit.

2) Solution: If in the situation of having your grab loop caught under
your skirt either try to pop the skirt off with your knees or grab the
side to pull off.

What I found in trying #2 is that I could not pop the skirt with my
knees. I had to grip the skirt along the side and pull off which was
fairly easy to do. What I found though was it was a little panicky even
consciously doing it in an eddy with someone spotting me just in case.
I imagine that feeling would only be escalated in a real scenario. I
would also imagine that there could be various variables that would make
doing this more or less difficult. For example, I could not pop my
skirt with my knees but someone else might find that the easier way to
go. I had a mountainsurf skirt with an implosion bar on my playboat. I
tried grabbing the implosion bar but that did not work, it also made me
reach a little further toward my waist to be able to grab enough
material to pull the skirt off. Also, if you wear gloves in the winter
I would think that could have an effect as well.

Personally I feel better now having tried some different things and
should I now find myself in this situation I know what I would do.
After all these years of paddling it had never dawned on me to actually
try doing this but maybe something you want to try in a safe environment
to be prepared (mentally and physically) since as we've read it can
happen. What I've learned over the years with SWR is that preparation
and practice are key to safe paddling.

-Jed

From APE_Trips on Yahoo Groups:
Tiffany Mozingo Wrote:

I once had a bad back deck pin where I was unable to reach my grab loop,
even though it was out. I was facing upstream, with current coming at my
chest, head down. I didn't have my knife, even though I reached for it, and
I couldn't pop it with my knees. I was calm at first and tried all the
things I learned in SWR. I clawed and pulled at the side of the skirt until
my fingers bled and couldn't get it off, possibly due to the panick that
was
starting to set in. I was head down about 30 secs until my body started to
go limp causing the currents to change and the boat to finally wash loose.
Now I will never paddle again without a lap strap on my skirts. IR can
retrofit some of their skirts ( I had all of mine done) and mountain surf
makes this as an option. People say that when you need to get out, you'll
find a way, but I agree with this thread, you should figure out what that
way is before you need it.

From APE_Trips on Yahoo Groups:
Larry Stewart Wrote:

One other thing to consider is the lack of ability to use your hands ....
think double shoulder dislocation or using your hands to prevent dropping
into a death sieve by holding onto a rock, tree, etc.
I tried to exit my kayak like this at the takeout of the Ocoee just to see
what happens. After a bit of kicking around and lots of wriggling I was able
to get out but it was difficult. You can never know too many ways to get out
of your boat. Never know what you might need or when.

Larry