POSTED: Friday, Aug. 22, 2008
Bellingham kayak group develops safety programs
Six people died while kayaking in Whatcom County waters in 2007
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closeBELLINGHAM -- As a kayaker, Mac Carter has good reason to be concerned. Among his worries are the six fatal accidents involving kayakers or canoeists in Whatcom County in 2007, according to figures reported in a Whatcom Association of Kayak Enthusiasts (WAKE) newsletter earlier this summer.
That’s an appalling figure for any recreational activity and particularly troubling considering kayaking is one of fastest-growing sports in the country and around the world, Carter said.
Carter is a member of WAKE, and he and Gene Davis, the group’s safety officer, are leading the effort to educate kayakers of all skill and experience levels about the potential hazards of their hobby. On Sept. 16 at the Bellingham Public Library, Carter will present “Safe Kayaking in the Pacific Northwest,” one in a series of programs that sheds light on the risks of kayaking.
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KAYAK SAFETY CLASS
"Safe Kayaking in the Pacific Northwest" by Mac Carter and guest speaker John Reseck
When: Tuesday, Sept. 16, 7:30 p.m.
Where: Bellingham Public Library
Cost: Free
MORE ONLINE
WAKE (Whatcom Association of Kayak Enthusiasts) Web site: www.wakekayak.org
“There are 50 million kayakers in the United States, and about 700 to 1,000 fatalities a year,” Carter said. “Ninety percent of those happen because people aren’t wearing a PFD, and there are no requirements to wearing one.
“What we’re trying to do is raise awareness.”
Carter will be joined for the Sept. 16 program by guest speaker John Reseck, founder of the U. S. Coast Guard’s Paddle Craft Program.
WAKE emphasizes safety over nearly every other aspect of kayaking, Carter said.
“The fatalities typically have raised a level of concern in several organizations,” Carter said. “One is the Coast Guard, two is the local county police and sheriff’s departments — particularly the sheriffs. They have the water jurisdiction — and WAKE. Those are the three primary ones.
“Then, you have Congressman (Rick) Larsen’s office — they’ve shown an interest. Then you’ve got several independent, kayaker-instruction groups here in the Puget Sound area who are also concerned and interested and wanted to do something.”
A consortium of sorts of those groups came together early this year, Carter said, when a series of meetings were put together at the local Coast Guard station.
“The topic was ‘What could we do?’ What are some possibilities for taking action to raise awareness around kayaking safety, in the Pacific Northwest, given the cold water we have around here,” Carter said. “It was a brainstorming session.
“Out of those meetings, WAKE formed a safety committee. We haven’t had one before, outside of typical officer roles. Gene took it on, and several members of the group got involved. Our objective was to address the question from the club’s point of view: What could we do to help raise awareness and help educate people more effectively?”
The club already had in place skill-building seminars and “demo days, ” in which boats and equipment are displayed, Carter said. But there hadn’t been a seminar to focus solely on safety, he said.
“It was really up to the individual to go out and learn whatever they could,” Carter said.
WAKE found that was unacceptable, so it formulated and published in its June newsletter an article outlining the group’s primary issues regarding the recent fatalities — a lack of cold-water safety gear and lack of emergency communication equipment — and the action WAKE aimed to implement. One of those actions was to put together a brochure emphasizing safety and education, Carter said.
“The club never had a brochure, and didn’t really have any educational information about safe kayaking, so we wrote the brochure this summer,” Carter said. “It’s now published, and it has a very strong emphasis. The dominant theme is safe kayaking, (plus) it’s sort of educational about currents, tides, winds and cold water here in Puget Sound.”
Among the safety tips outlined by WAKE are wearing non-cotton clothing while on the water, dressing properly for the water temperature, always using a personal floatation device and carrying a VHF radio when paddling on salt water.
All these tips can help promote a safe experience, but Carter admits there’s still a lot of information that needs to be shared.
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