: Unfortunately, bad judgement cost lives again.

: http://www.bangordailynews.com/detail/143675.html

: Respect Mother nature!

: Rob

How do we educate paddlers? I'm sometimes rude and holler at people on the water without a life jacket.

How do we keep from being complacent about the dangers of cold and open water paddling and taking risks beyond our skills?

I've paddled with groups in conditions I wouldn't paddle in alone. Was that smart? It's easy to think we can rescue each other if we get in trouble but from the accident reports I've seen, this often put more people in the water.

I paddled whitewater for years. You could always swim to shore. But trying to swim a hundred yards from shore in sea kayaking is more deadly.

Will people start suing boat builders, saying they must provide idiot proof boats?

Should boaters have to get a license and pass a water safety test?

Here's a link to a site about cold water and hypothermia. I saw this on TV recently and realized there was a lot about it I didn't know.

http://www.coldwaterbootcamp.com/pages/home.html

Paddle safe!

Rob