OUT & BACK Paddlers Guide Service

According to the U.S. Coast Guard, in the past three years (2022-2024), falls overboard and ejections contributed to 31% of all boating fatalities. Don’t let nature’s call become an overboard fall.

When A Kayak Disaster Strikes, Who Is To Blame? | On May 6, 2016, Bryan Orrio and Kelley McCallum bought two Old Town Trip 10 recreational kayaks from Dick’s Sporting Goods in Salem, Oregon. They headed for the Mehama run on the nearby North Santiam River, a stretch I know well.

Orrio and McCallum claim the salesperson removed flotation foam from the bows, believing it was packing material. The two rec boats were on a class II whitewater run. The paddlers were inexperienced enough to refer to their paddles as “oars.”

Claiming injury from capsizing and wrestling the boats to shore, the pair sued Dick’s Sporting Goods for $455,000. Regardless of the outcome, the aquatic and legal kerfuffle is a warning about a possible future of kayaking. As paddling becomes increasing popular and mainstream, there will be more novices. Kayaks will be more readily available. But the water won’t get any more beginner or rec-boat friendly than it is now.

The risks are apparent, and they raise old questions anew. What are the responsibilities of outfitters, paddlers and groups? What’s the right balance of safety and independence? When should we own it and admit we’re doofuses who got in over our heads?

Continue reading: https://bit.ly/3RvItQy

✍️: Neil Schulman
📷: Jamie Sharp: Skills and rescue training is the best way to prevent an on-water accident. At a TRAK Kayak Surf Camp weekend in Ucluelet, British Columbia, paddlers learn to read the swell and recognize safe zones, which allows them to “enjoy and play in this area of the coast,” says photographer Jaime Sharp.

This is an older post but still has important safety info

When A Kayak Disaster Strikes, Who Is To Blame? | On May 6, 2016, Bryan Orrio and Kelley McCallum bought two Old Town Trip 10 recreational kayaks from Dick’s Sporting Goods in Salem, Oregon. They headed for the Mehama run on the nearby North Santiam River, a stretch I know well.

Orrio and McCallum claim the salesperson removed flotation foam from the bows, believing it was packing material. The two rec boats were on a class II whitewater run. The paddlers were inexperienced enough to refer to their paddles as “oars.”

Claiming injury from capsizing and wrestling the boats to shore, the pair sued Dick’s Sporting Goods for $455,000. Regardless of the outcome, the aquatic and legal kerfuffle is a warning about a possible future of kayaking. As paddling becomes increasing popular and mainstream, there will be more novices. Kayaks will be more readily available. But the water won’t get any more beginner or rec-boat friendly than it is now.

The risks are apparent, and they raise old questions anew. What are the responsibilities of outfitters, paddlers and groups? What’s the right balance of safety and independence? When should we own it and admit we’re doofuses who got in over our heads?

Continue reading: https://bit.ly/3RvItQy

✍️: Neil Schulman
📷: Jamie Sharp: Skills and rescue training is the best way to prevent an on-water accident. At a TRAK Kayak Surf Camp weekend in Ucluelet, British Columbia, paddlers learn to read the swell and recognize safe zones, which allows them to “enjoy and play in this area of the coast,” says photographer Jaime Sharp.