[Mike Collins]

The death of two kayakers and another seriously injured prompts me to write to those who might be casual kayakers. The specifics of what happened have not been made public but when the winds kick up as they did on Dungeness Bay the safest option may not be to paddle feverishly toward shore. Sometimes it is much safer for the kayakers to get together and hold onto each other's kayak. This greatly lessens the likelihood of capsizing. A bobbing raft of kayaks can withstand much more wind force than solo kayakers. The group might very well be blown away from the targeted landing but lives can be saved using that technique.

[Randito]

I don't know the details, but the recent deaths are tragic. The cold waters off Washington State and British Columbia make for severe consequences in the event of capsize. Warmer waters are far more forgiving, but around here typically one only has a few minutes to get out of the water before hypothermia makes a swimmer too weak to self-rescue. A wealth of bad experience to learn from in these two books http://www.amazon.com/Sea-Kayakers-Deep-Trouble-Magazine/dp/0070084998 http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0071770097/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_dp_ss_3?pf_rd_p=1944687582&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=0070084998&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=16YN5232FWAR23Y8CF76

[trestle]

Dungeness Bay (the water between Dungeness Spit and the mainland) seems like sheltered water but is notorious for sudden storms and an unbelievable swell that seemingly arrives out of nowhere. The deaths are a tragedy and a loss to their community. RIP.

[Token Civilian]

The paradox, to me, when kayaking in salt water: Dress for the water temp or the air temp, if there is a huge difference. If it's cold / rainy, then it's a no brainer, just wear the dry suit with appropriate insulation under it. Cold water and mild to plain warm air on the other hand...... If dressing for the cold water and / or rainy cold air temps, then I wear my dry suit with appropriate layers under it. If for warm air....perhaps just the paddle jacket and a thin shirt under that, and shorts / or thin nylon pants. If I get dunked in the dry suit / dressed for water temps, there's a lot longer time in the water before going hypothermic versus the latter case.

[Randito]

Dress for immersion, practice rolls to cool off.

[wolffie]

A book/article about hypothermia mentioned a tragedy on the Potomac wherein a rowing crew (US Marines?) capsized and all perished.

[joker]

Sad news. WRT how to dress, based on reading the first book linked by Randy, and talking with its author who is local, I would dress for immersion, unless perhaps planning to stay relatively near shore on a nice day in a modest-size body of fresh water.

[Recon]

True enough, and go to George Gronseth, the author of the book Randy mentions. He'll deepen your respect for the dangers of kayaking. My own bias is white water boaters are better prepared, and sea kayakers are more casual than serious; sea kayaking demanding even deeper respect for weather, tides and current. Sure white water boaters get in trouble too, but they generally pick their level of run (difficulty) III, IV, V more decidedly. Bias again I know, but we all hate folks losing their lives.

[AlpineRose]

Our Olympic Birdfest field trip group was at Three Crabs on Saturday when this rescue was initiated. We saw some kayakers evidently stranded with two kayaks way out on the mudflats at very low tide. Sensing they needed help, several of our group walked out on the wet sand to offer assistance. It was needed, and they helped the kayakers carry their boats to shore. While this was going on, a Sheriff's officer arrived and headed out to the tideflats to talk to the kayakers. When he came back, we asked if everything was OK. He said no, that three kayakers had gone missing and asked if we'd seen anything through our scopes and binoculars. We hadn't. Shortly thereafter a bright orange Coast Guard helicopter began flying over the bay in a methodical search pattern. When our group came back, one of our group's members said the kayakers told them their group had quickly scattered, unable to keep track of each other in the heavy seas and strong winds. One of the kayakers said she and the missing woman had been kayaking together. She was a bit ahead of the other woman, and all of her attention was focused on handling her own boat in the difficult conditions. At one point she turned around, and the woman behind her was simply gone. As predicted, the winds had gotten really strong in the afternoon, so much so we couldn't hold our optics steady. And the water was very choppy. This group was out for the kayak equivalent of a Sunday stroll, anticipating a leisurely outing on what is normally considered a beginner's trip. They were loosely organized with minimal leadership. With the exception of one (or two) participants, no one else was dressed for immersion. What's most important is they must not have listened to a weather forecast. Or if they had, no one in the group understand the implications. There are so many lessons here. It's beyond tragic two folks lost their lives to illustrate them.

[Token Civilian]

Kind of hard to roll a double Randy. GF and I have a Current Designs Unity. Great for adventure racing and kayak camping. Blows the plastic pig doubles out of the water in terms of speed and is quite reasonable on the stability. We added a pair of Kokatat drysuits to go with it once we started doing the salt water paddling. All in, the kayaking accessories (dry suits, VHF radio, paddles, etc) for the two of us were more than the cost of the boat - but we knew that going in, and figured it's part of the cost of the sport. We've taken the Total Immersion Sea Kayaking course from Northwest Outdoor Center. For those newer to kayaking, this is a highly informative course...and they feed you super well too boot. 'Tis fun to play in the surf out on the coast. Worth every dime you'll spend on it. Truly a sad day for this group. I'm not going to Monday morning quarter back their decisions. ETA: One nice thing about kayak camping / touring versus backpacking is that carrying several days extra of food isn't an issue from the weight perspective. That lets a person just sit on the beach if they have to wait out bad weather and / or unfavorable tides.

[Randito]

[Snowbrushy]

[JonnyQuest]

My condolences and sympathy goes out to the group. Speaking from my own perspective on paddling, in many ways I approach sea kayaking as a form of on-water hiking. And when doing so, I often prefer to dress for the air temp and not the water temp. This decision is certainly condition-dependent, but I personally find paddling in warm temps while dressed for immersion less than pleasant. Just as I would find hiking in warm temps while dressed in rain gear unpleasant. Obviously, knowledge of expected conditions is invaluable, as is an understanding of what to do should conditions and / or the situation change.

[Randito]

Shallow waters + strong winds makes for steep waves that can broach and dump boats easily. Wearing a drysuit greatly enhances your margin of safety. To me in cold water paddling in is more like wearing a helmet while cycling or a seat belt while driving. we don't the details of the,incident - perhaps they were wearing drysuits/wetsuits but conditions were so bad that they couldn't self-rescue even with the extra time that immersion clothing provides. A good test is to wade in and squat down until the water reaches your neck before launching, if that is uncomfortably cold, more layers or don't go. Cooling off while paddling is much easier than hiking. Even if your roll isn't automatic, dowsing yourself with a bailing sponge works to keep cool.

[joker]

It won't magically make wearing a drysuit and insulating layers comfortable on a warm day, but a neck ring at least helps a bit by allowing a bit more ventilation through the neck. You can pop it out from the gasket pretty quickly if you unexpectedly capsize and you only end up with a bit of water coming in through the neck before your suit is watertight.