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: #123600 in Books
• Published on: 1997-06-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 192 pages

From the Author
The book is just the beginning...
As co-author of Deep Trouble I wish to thank all the people who've read it and recommend it to their friends and other kayakers they meet. I know many of you have even bought a second or third copy after giving yours away to clueless kayak strangers you've met on paddling trips, ferry rides, etc. Keep spreading the word, and maybe someday we'll have fewer accidents to write about! If you have a story of a learning experience that you are willing to share with other kayakers, please write it up, and email it to me. If reading the book makes you realize that your training/experience/skill-testing hasn't prepared you for what could have happened on trips you've taken, I invite you to come take lessons with me at the Kayak Academy in Seattle, WA USA. Just as this book provides vital information that you won't read in how-to manuals, my school was founded to provide lessons that exceed the industry standards in order to address the kinds of safety problems that occurred to the paddlers in Deep Trouble (as well as many others not yet written about). As the book illustrates, the key to being safe is to stay within your limits, and I'll add to that by saying if your limits are too limited for what you want to do, then you need to increase your skill...take lessons, practice, and find safe ways to test your limits. Thanks, George Gronseth, Founder of the Kayak Academy (Established in 1991)

From the Back Cover

"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.

About the Author

About the Authors

In 1972, Matt Broze wrote Freestyle Skiing, the first book on the subject. Co-owners or Mariner Kayaks since 1980, he and his brother Cam have designed ten sea kayaks. Matt developed and promoted the now-common paddle-float rescues in 1981. His writing on sea kayak safety and rescues and experience in extreme conditions led to his becoming Sea Kayaker magazine's safety columnist in 1984. He's still a regular contributor on safety, paddling skills, recreational racing, and equipment. Matt has paddled over 400 sea kayak designs.

George Gronseth earned a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering and moved to the Northwest, where he took up kayaking and worked for the Boeing Company analyzing the strength and safety of airplanes. Before long he was teaching kayaking and leading trips for clubs and friends. He succeeded Matt Broze as safety columnist for Sea Kayaker magazine. George has published numerous articles on technique as well as safety and has given many presentations for kayaks clubs and symposia. In 1991, he founded the Seattle-based Kayak Academy in order to devote all his time to teaching and writing about kayaking.

Christopher Cunningham is the editor of Sea Kayaker magazine. His travels in small sailing, rowing, and paddling craft have covered over 7,000 miles of North American waterways. His longest cruise was a 2,500-mile paddle from Quebec to Cedar Key, Florida. He has been building kayaks and other small craft since 1979. He has published accounts of his small boat travels and articles on boatbuilding in Sea Kayaker, Nor'westing, and Small Boat Journal as well as two anthologies: Oyo and Seekers of the Horizon. Christopher occasionally teaches traditional kayak construction at The WoodenBoat School in Brooklin, Maine, and is a frequent lecturer at sea kayak symposia.

About the Contributors

Chris Amato (page 143) is a wildlife biologist who lives in New York City.

Alison Armstrong (page 94) lives in New York City and has kayaked extensively along the coast of Maine.

Deb Davis (page 22) is an author and former associate editor of Sea Kayaker magazine; she lives in Indianola, Washington.

Ken Kelton (page 100) is a building contractor living in San Francisco. He still goes surfing and kayaking on the California coast.

Tom Watson (page 173) is a kayak instructor in Kodiak, Alaska, and a member of Kodiak Island Search and Rescue.

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