Dammit, I'm not happy!

Posted by Robert N Pruden on Apr 20, 2005

Man, that hurts all the more. The old guy was out to try something to stay active. This story suggests two implications to me. First, he wasn't informed about safe paddling from who ever sold him the boat and second, he was informed but was too damn stubborn to listen.

If he was not informed, then I put it to every dealer who sells kayaks to anyone to do this:

MAKE CERTAIN THAT THE CUSTOMER LEAVES THEIR SHOP WITH THE APPROPRIATE WARNINGS AND INFORMATION ABOUR THE DANGERS OF PADDLING WITHOUT EXPERIENCE ON THE WATER.

It is in the seller's interests to keep customers informed about safety. Living customers come back to make future purchases. Dead ones scare prospective customers away. There is no reason deaths like this have to happen.

I make no comments about the dangers of paddling alone because 99.99% of my paddling is done alone. I have enough experience to evaluate the risks I take and I take them when I want. A newbie can't do this because a newbie has no idea what to expect.

That said, if the man was informed and he ignored warnings, then he gets a Darwin Award.

Robert N Pruden

In Response to: DEATH OF A KAYAKER by james bengough on Apr 15, 2005

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