Solo Sea Kayaking & Mountaineering

[NapalmDeath74]

I love Sea Kayaking but due to many clubs in Caithness having a Dounreay click and if you don't work at Dounreay its hard to become part of the inner circle of many clubs and a bad experience with one certain club in Caithness not connected to Kayaking, so I have decided to do the things I enjoy like Sea Kayaking, Mountaineering on my own and the inerrant risk doing these sports solo can give will give cause for people to judge me as fool hardy, stupid, not giving a care for the people who might have to rescue me if one got into difficulty in the mountains or on the sea. I always Equip myself for self rescue if necessary and to aid the rescuers in locating me but the judgemental people will still say I'm reckless.

[bothyman]

I know what you mean I've had the same thing happen to me several times.

Then if you start your own group and it's a success they move in and have secret meetings to take it over.

I gave up with clubs for the same reasons as you.

I even joined a club to find nonpaying members had more say than I did and were even invited out on club trips I was never told about.

Hopefully someone will come forward and want to join in your adventures.

[Kirdon]

I love Sea Kayaking but due to many clubs in Caithness having a Dounreay click and if you don't work at Dounreay its hard to become part of the inner circle of many clubs and a bad experience with one certain club in Caithness not connected to Kayaking, so I have decided to do the things I enjoy like Sea Kayaking, Mountaineering on my own and the inerrant risk doing these sports solo can give will give cause for people to judge me as fool hardy, stupid, not giving a care for the people who might have to rescue me if one got into difficulty in the mountains or on the sea. I always Equip myself for self rescue if necessary and to aid the rescuers in locating me but the judgemental people will still say I'm reckless.

Not being one for going into the mountains nor sea Kayaking I was interested in the "self rescue" from these activities, could you give me more info please?

[NapalmDeath74]

Not being one for going into the mountains nor sea Kayaking I was interested in the "self rescue" from these activities, could you give me more info please?

Self-rescue is one of the most important, yet least-rehearsed skills that a kayak paddler can have. The ability to get yourself back into the boat quickly is vital in colder water conditions, and even in warm water, nobody wants to swim hundreds of yards to shore towing a boat full of gear (and water). It is not enough to carry a paddle float and have some shock cord rigged behind your cockpit.

You must practice your rescues, and honestly, you must practice them in the kinds of conditions that would cause you to capsize. This means that some windy summer day when the water is warm and there is some chop, go out with a friend and take turns wet-exiting and re-entering. While you're out there, practice group rescues, too.

Now that I've hopefully impressed upon you the importance of practice, let's get down to the fun stuff, the gear. Most self-rescue methods rely to some degree on a piece of specialized equipment. The exception to this is the reenter-and-roll method, in which you do a somersault under water and get back into your boat upside down and roll up. I know, I can't do it either, and it does sort of assume that you can roll. That said, all other solo rescues I know of rely on safety equipment, so here we've offered some thoughts on what works and what doesn't. There are basically two types of rescue aids, paddle floats and sponsons.

The most common type of paddle float is a dual-chambered inflatable bag. In the event of a swim, you slip it over the paddle blade, inflate it, and build an outrigger by either attaching by shock cord or physically holding the paddle shaft to the back deck. This outrigger allows you to climb back into the boat. There are inflatable floats out there under many labels, and most are essentially the same.

Sponsons are inflatable pontoons that attach to the sides of your kayak and effectively increase the beam by a foot or more. The type we have at Rutabaga, Seawings, are the best we've seen out there. They require one-time setup of some quick-release buckles which stay attached to your boat. After that, all you have to do is clip them on and inflate them. The inflation hoses are long enough that you can inflate both chambers from one side of the boat. Then just climb back in.

[NapalmDeath74]

Not being one for going into the mountains nor sea Kayaking I was interested in the "self rescue" from these activities, could you give me more info please?

Self rescue in mountaineering refers to actions and techniques taken by either an individual climber or teams to retreat or advance from situations which would leave those otherwise unprepared stranded. Self rescue techniques can be used to pass a difficult section of a climb, or a rappel down a multiple pitch route with an injured climber.
Some of the techniques employed during self rescue involve tandem rappels, counterbalance rappels, rescue spiders, rope soloing, multidirectional anchors, belay escapes, rescue knots, and ascending methods.

[the_big_mac]

Exactly, I wanted to take up and learn kayaking but felt I would be intruding on something sacred!