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#290798 - 10/08/18 05:42 PM the wrong boat on the wrong lake...
TeacherRO Offline
Carpal Tunnel

Registered: 03/11/05
Posts: 2574
Taking an open topped out on the biggest lake in North America...

Kayak capsises on Lake Superior

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#290803 - 10/08/18 05:52 PM Re: the wrong boat on the wrong lake... [Re: TeacherRO]
hikermor Offline
Geezer in Chief
Geezer

Registered: 08/26/06
Posts: 7705
Loc: southern Cal
It will be instructive to get more details, but five people in a 13.5 foot open kayak?? - looks a lot like overloading. Personally, I wouldn't put one person in an open kayak, unless they were wearing a wetsuit with a hood.

I am a firm believer in real kayaks, as opposed to the toy-like open kayaks.

When you are in water as cold as lake Superior, life preservers function as body retrieval devices. I believe those waters are about as warm as they get right now. I have vivid memories of scuba diving off Isle Royale in June - water temps 34 degrees.
_________________________
Geezer in Chief

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#290809 - 10/08/18 10:18 PM Re: the wrong boat on the wrong lake... [Re: TeacherRO]
Phaedrus Offline
Carpal Tunnel

Registered: 04/28/10
Posts: 3148
Loc: Big Sky Country
Very sad. Just reading the sparse article it sounds pretty irresponsible to take young children out in an overloaded open kayak.
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“I'd rather have questions that cannot be answered than answers that can't be questioned.” —Richard Feynman

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#290811 - 10/09/18 01:08 AM Re: the wrong boat on the wrong lake... [Re: TeacherRO]
dougwalkabout Offline
Crazy Canuck
Carpal Tunnel

Registered: 02/03/07
Posts: 3217
Loc: Alberta, Canada
Superior has a long reputation as a violent inland sea. It eats ships. I'm sad that an unfortunate choice has led to such loss of life.

The legends are long enshrined in ballad, and with good reason.

Quote:
And the legend lives on from the Chippewa on down
Of the big lake they call 'Gitche Gumee'
Superior, they said, never gives up her dead
When the gales of November come early.
-Gordon Lightfoot


Quote:
But I told that kid a hundred times, Don't take the Lakes for granted!
They go from calm to 100 knots so fast they seem enchanted.
But tonight some red-eyed Wiarton girl lies starin' at the wall,
And her lover's gone into a white squall.
-Stan Rogers


Edited by dougwalkabout (10/09/18 01:18 AM)

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#290821 - 10/09/18 10:33 PM Re: the wrong boat on the wrong lake... [Re: TeacherRO]
TeacherRO Offline
Carpal Tunnel

Registered: 03/11/05
Posts: 2574
Yes - The lake runs from about 32 -38 degrees year round.

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#290822 - 10/09/18 10:41 PM Re: the wrong boat on the wrong lake... [Re: dougwalkabout]
Teslinhiker Offline
Veteran

Registered: 12/14/09
Posts: 1418
Loc: Nothern Ontario
Originally Posted By: dougwalkabout
Superior has a long reputation as a violent inland sea. It eats ships. I'm sad that an unfortunate choice has led to such loss of life.

The legends are long enshrined in ballad, and with good reason.

Quote:
And the legend lives on from the Chippewa on down
Of the big lake they call 'Gitche Gumee'
Superior, they said, never gives up her dead
When the gales of November come early.
-Gordon Lightfoot

Iconic lyrics by an equally iconic Canadian singing legend.

For anyone who (including me) spends time out on the water, always needs to keep in mind that the sea (or ocean or lake) is a cruel mistress, who never relents in her pursuit of unmercifully snuffing out your life when you least expect it.

Of all environments, I have the utmost respect for the water. And for the foolhardy and unprepared who hear the mistress's siren call and dare to venture out, they rarely have a second chance. The OP's linked article is an all too stark reminder of that.
_________________________
Earth and sky, woods and fields, lakes and rivers, the mountain and the sea, are excellent schoolmasters, and teach some of us more than we can ever learn from books.

John Lubbock

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#291234 - 11/30/18 10:33 PM Re: the wrong boat on the wrong lake... [Re: TeacherRO]
TeacherRO Offline
Carpal Tunnel

Registered: 03/11/05
Posts: 2574
Its equipment + training.

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#291236 - 12/01/18 03:12 AM Re: the wrong boat on the wrong lake... [Re: TeacherRO]
dougwalkabout Offline
Crazy Canuck
Carpal Tunnel

Registered: 02/03/07
Posts: 3217
Loc: Alberta, Canada
Hmm! What training and what equipment would you recommend for the Great Lakes?


Edited by dougwalkabout (12/01/18 03:14 AM)

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#291242 - 12/01/18 03:08 PM Re: the wrong boat on the wrong lake... [Re: dougwalkabout]
hikermor Offline
Geezer in Chief
Geezer

Registered: 08/26/06
Posts: 7705
Loc: southern Cal
I don't have a lot of experience on the Great Lakes, but I do remember with fondness a project that involved diving on shipwrecks within Isle Royale National Park.

The standard, typical shipwreck tale started with, "trying to make one more voyage before the onset of winter and freeze up, the SS XYZ set out", encountering a storm that overwhelmed the vessel. Don't try and beat Mother Nature. This probably isn't as much an issue now, with more accurate weather forecasts.

If you are going out on the water, especially in kayaks and small craft, you must be prepared to be in the water. This means appropriate clothing, which on the Great Lakes should be some sort of a dry suit most of the time. Your survival gear must be prepped to withstand immersion. You may be in the water or some time before reaching shore.

These in general are the precautions I have taken when kayaking around the Channel Islands, where the water is rather cool (45-55F) most of the time.
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Geezer in Chief

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#291298 - 12/05/18 01:20 AM Re: the wrong boat on the wrong lake... [Re: hikermor]
aligator Offline
Journeyman

Registered: 07/08/06
Posts: 96
Loc: NY
As somebody said once, modern marvels and technology aside (we get arrogant over such things, occasionally to our doom), mother nature bats last. Tell me the last time you believed the forecast, and got hosed.
The above, God rest their souls, just another example of folks that didn't know or recognize the peril they were in, and paid for it, but their kids had to pay too. Wrong place/wrong time.

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