Product Description

'For many of us, a kayak is the means by which we can take in the full measure of the rich coastal environment. But the environment where air, water, and land meet is notoriously variable, and the intimate connection a kayak provides with that environment leaves us exposed and vulnerable to forces that can easily overpower us...Paddlers who invest time and effort and fully engage their senses not only have a greater degree of safety - they discover more of the subtle textures of the waterways they travel' - from the Preface by Christopher Cunningham."Sea Kayaker's Deep Trouble" offers more than twenty harrowing, real-life accounts of sea kayaking accidents that will both keep you on the edge of your seat and instruct you with potentially life-saving lessons. These tales, drawn from "Sea Kayaker" magazine, are the result of interviews with accident survivors, witnesses, and rescuers. From capsizes and hypothermia to brushes with sharks and entrapment in sea caves, the situations are described in chilling detail and then subjected to expert analysis." Sea Kayaker's Deep Trouble" is rounded out by a comprehensive introduction to sea kayaking safety and three dozen sidebars offering tips on equipment, techniques, and improving your skills. "Sea Kayaker" magazine reports on accidents and near accidents so its readers might learn from the experience of others rather than having to learn the hard way. "Sea Kayaker's Deep Trouble" gathers more than twenty of the most compelling and instructive of these reports, outlining the circumstances of each accident and providing detailed analyses: What did the paddlers do wrong? What did they do right? Most importantly, how might the accident have been prevented? With a comprehensive introduction to kayaking safety and three dozen sidebars on gear, skills, and techniques, this book is a must for any sea kayaker who wants to paddle safely.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #113938 in Books
• Published on: 1997-06-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 192 pages

Customer Reviews

A must-read for every kayaker.
This book is a must-read for every kayaker, not just sea kayakers. These true, white-knuckle accounts drive home the point that the unexpected can and does happen, often with tragic results. It's too bad the kayakers who perished or were on death's doorstep in these stories did not have the benefit of reading this book first. It certainly would have sharpened their judgement and kept them out of harm's way.

Cautionary Tales Hit Home
I just can't let the first posted review stand alone. This is a book I read twice. Not because it wasn't well written. It was. It is so densely packed with stuff I needed to know that once through was not enough.

The narratives are well crafted: concise, gripping - I felt like I was right there in the cockpit battling the waves, shaking off the salt spray, and bracing for dear life. The savvy sidebars are packed with right-on-the-mark stay/get out of deep trouble pointers...just the antidote for an anxious reader jarred out his complacency by these often harrowing cautionary tales.

The book suceeded in a way I believe the authors intended. It's made me a safer paddler. I make many fewer assumptions that things out there will go well. I prepare for the worst and cut a lot fewer corners. I paddle alone a lot less often. I DRIVE away from a launch site, when conditions look borderline too challenging. The book has improved my judgment, doing the right things at the right time, without my getting wet. As an advanced beginner sea kayaker, I know I am at a high risk interval in my development as a paddler. The authors have recalibrated my margin of safety. It's a good thing. It's a great book.

Valuable lessons
After my own near-death experience with a kayak I wanted an easier way to learn than the hard way each time. This book takes the lessons from problems that people got into. Some stories of people who died. If you can learn lessons and be better prepared their deaths werent totally in vain.
I'm a better kayaker now and this book has helped with that. At least my mistakes aren't so stupid now