Sad news - be careful out there

[John Bacon]

https://ca.news.yahoo.com/body-wearing-life-jacket-pulled-154025856.html

[leaf4]

Very sad. How does that happen wearing a lifejacket? Guess we'll never know but seems mind boggling. I have a friend who's father passed on Georgian bay because his strap in the middle wasn't done up holding his PFD on

[Dutch01]

It's usually hypothermia that gets you this time of year.

[Joeytier]

Lifejackets don't help much when the waters in the 40-50 degree range

[Big Cliff]

Lifejackets don't help much when the waters in the 40-50 degree range

They do make the body easier to find

[G.mech]

If he was paddling in the river on Thursday as the story suggests I'm sure it was flowing pretty fast after the monsoon on Wednesday. There's undoubtedly a lot of rocks and debris to bounce off between where he launched and Leslie St....he likely floated 50 km or so and was still alive after two days. Pretty amazing actually but unfortunately he didn't make it to tell the story. Very sad.

[2 tone z71]

Very sad indeed

[hunteronwheels]

very sad indeed

i kayak fish and i know the dangers

i would not head out in the fall without a drysuit and a type I life vest ( turns you right side up if unconscious )

and if going into a big lake i would use a beacon

any type of solo boating has its dangers

all we can do is be prepared as best we can

[woodenboater]

A properly worn pfd will help keep some body heat in but yeah, much depends on what he was wearing and what type of kayak he was in. Below Erindale there is some moving water but not much. There's a bit by the UoTM and through the golf course but nothing very technical, then it's flat till the lake. But yeah, a drysuit or even wetsuit would have helped unless he took a hit to the head. I'm in a drysuit once October rolls around and will stay in that until after the May 2/4.

 

I wonder how far off shore he floated as it's maybe around 22-25 km as crow flies. Figured someone would have seen an empty kayak or colourful pfd in the water.

[aplumma]

I am sorry to hear this please be careful we hate to lose people enjoying the outdoors.

 

 

art

[Toronto_Angler]

I've seen way to many kayakers flip in the harbour. Very dangerous with all that traffic out there and then add the cold water at this time of year and it's a recipe for disaster. Hate hearing things like this but hope it can at least serve as a warning and make others think.

[Canuck]

Its been so windy that there would be almost no boat traffic out there. Even less than normal this time of year. Very tragic.

[msp]

http://www.coldwaterbootcamp.com/pages/cfv2.html

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

An interesting read and a site that we should all pay a bit of attention to.

Many of my staff that work in or around water have the training.

Edited November 2, 2015 by msp

[PUMP KNOWS]

Very sad

[bare foot wader]

very sad story

 

I've used a SPOT and now have an InReach, initially purchased for hunting trips but I've started to carry mine on my body whenever I do anything these days, alone or with a friend...hunting, fishing, boating, etc...they are small and packable, and worth it's weight in gold when you really need it...every outdoorsman should have one nowadays imo, small price to pay to help with your safety

[woodenboater]

Boaters/paddlers would benefit from wearing emergency strobe lights on their pfd. I got a couple of small ones from Wayne when he was selling them and they're great although I haven't had a chance to attach them to mine yet. They come on automatically and blink white light continuously, which should grab someone's attention. If this boater had something similar, I would guess that they might have been found sooner.

[Dutch01]

That's a great idea!

[Steve]

This poor fella has joined fellow Kayaker Serge Lapointe, who also met his untimely fate on a cold November day in his Kayak on Lake Ontario.

 

I hope all our Kayaking friends take all precautions before yaking in the winter on a great lake.

Edited November 3, 2015 by Steve

[dave524]

Somewhere I read he launched at Erindale Park above Dundas, don't think he meant to end up in the lake.

[woodenboater]

Port Credit must have security cameras to see when he paddled by. Any other situation would mean NO ONE saw him float by which I find hard to believe. I think there's a gauge for the Credit, will see if I can dig it out to see what the flow was compared to normal seasonal flows.

 

 

edit- so the levels for Oct 29 weren't very high (4.8 give or take, 5.7 is very high with most whitewater play features washed out). If he started at the arena in Streetsville I could see consequences but Erindale Park is relatively safe, from a whitewater paddling pov.

Edited November 3, 2015 by woodenboater

[irishfield]

I still have a box full of those auto water sense flashers if anyone is interested.

 

Sad deal all around for this fellow and his family.