To me, this is a clear example of people not getting it. One survivor described the conditions when they launched as "about seven-foot swells and 85-, 84-kilometre-an-hour winds." How eight experienced adventure racers could launch into extremely rough and cold ocean water without wetsuits, some in a racing kayak as opposed to a sea kayak, and apparently without radios or other communications equipment is beyond my understanding.
We kayak. What we do can be dangerous. Even on the calmest days, we are taking a risk going out on the ocean. Going out without doing everything possible to mitigate those risks is foolhardy at best.
These experienced people made poor decisions on Sunday. A rescue worker said, "The weather conditions were forecasted. They were known. It was a poor choice on their part. They wore life vests, but otherwise they were all poorly dressed for the conditions."
It might be unfair to Monday morning quarterback this awful accident. I don't know these paddlers; I have no idea if they were capable of paddling in these conditions or not. I wasn't there, I wasn't privy to their decision-making process. But somewhere along the way that process went awry. They were woefully under-equipped and unprepared for being out on the water, and two paddlers didn't come back.
No comments:
Post a Comment