ROCKtheboat by alex matthews…illustration by lorenzo del bianco Safety for Sale, While Supplies Last


Before you buy more orange gear, think about stuffing some good judgment under your bungees.


“Which one do you do? With the sling, or without?


Are you on your back, or lying on your belly? Do you inflate it first or after?”


Initially, it sounds like this might be interesting kinky talk. But no, it’s sea kayak rescues again. Sea kayakers lust after safety. Rescues are the hottest topic of sea kayaking conversation by a nautical mile. The number of different techniques is astounding. Despite all the safety talk, sea kayakers often have surprisingly modest skills, eschewing an emphasis on judgment, conditioning and strong technique in favour of amassing safety gear and study- ing a near endless litany of rescue manoeuvres. Safety, apparently, has nothing to do with good judgment or


16 // Summer 2005


paddling skills. It’s all about rescues and rescue gear.


From the sounds of it, the best way for me to be safe is to cover every inch of my kayak deck with a sea of “international orange” rescue equipment.


Is it me, or does this seem like slamming the aquari- um door after the sea horse has already escaped? I’d rather invest my time practicing the avoidance of calamities rather than perfecting 20 different rescues to deal with disaster after it has occurred. After all, an ounce of prevention is worth 40 pounds of paddle floats.


Flares, floats, slings, signals, radar reflectors, radios, compasses and GPS units don’t, themselves, actually keep us safe. Rescue gear doesn’t save people—people armed with knowledge and fore- thought save people—often themselves.


Deep down, sea kayakers know this. After all, we are typically


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