Safety in SOF:s

Wednesday, June 23, 2004, 4 comments

In a danish kayak forum there has been a diskussion on safety and SOF:s. Two problems has been adressed: not everyone building and using SOF:s are aware that a new approach to safety is required, and that commonly trained rescues are not well suited to SOF:s.

In a danish kayak forum there has been a diskussion on safety and SOF:s. Two problems has been adressed: not everyone building and using SOF:s are aware that a new approach to safety is required, and that commonly trained rescues are not well suited to SOF:s.

A further problem is the risk that neither the paddler nor the tour leader is aware of the consequeces when SOF:s are appearing in contexts developed for large plastic sea kayaks.

A recreation kayak and a SOF are not interchangeable. With the SOF comes a different attitude to paddling, safety and rescues - a paddler not aware of this becomes a menace to himself and his paddling collegues. Building a SOF means searching for information and instruction in other places than the run-of-the mill kayak club activity.

To me it is only natural that the greenland paddler is an accomlished roller - why build a greenland kayak otherwise? The concept is all about never exiting the kayak at sea. The kayak has normally no bulkheads and no hatches, the hull and deck shape makes it difficult to empty and the low deck makes it hard to enter from the water without refilling it. On the other hand it is extremely easily rolled and have a small round rim which seales nicely to the sprayhood or tuiliq.

But even with a bomb proof roll I believe it is essencial to secure the hull against filling, to spare your paddling buddies the risk of emptying in a seaway. Use a seasock - bought or homemade (if you can stich a kayak, I can´t see that a seasock would give you too much trouble) - or place flotation bags in both ends.

Strip built greenland kayaks with bulkheads are safer - easier to empty at sea and they float high enough to enter with water in the cockpit and pump dry afterwards.

It is important that potential tour leaders and instructors are aware of the implications when SOF:s appear in clubs and at kayak centers, take the step of finding out the competence of the participating paddler before a tour begins and know what to do in an emergency.

The greenland paddlers I have met have been competent rollers and have had a thought through safety strategy - with one exception: a couple of years ago I met a bunch in new SOF:s on their way home from a building course with a wellknown instructor. A couple of them had no kayaking experience att all, the other had some experience in recreation kayaks, none of them could roll, no relevant safety equipment were brought, they had a long way home and the wheather was not reliable. I just hope they made it home without incidents and that the instructor behaves more responsibly after that.