Rhino wrote: I've personally got some real concerns going into this season. Lots of cheap and nasty yaks have been purchased over the off season and they'll be hitting the water with their inexperienced operators from now on. I hope we have an incident free season.

Rhino wrote:I'm glad that you guys have had this video come to mind and that you have taken steps to be safe on the water. That was the original intent of the video.
It was never intended to embarrass anybody, although I did concede in the original post that there was a risk that it could. I put it up as an eye opener as to what can go wrong and the possible consequences. I thought that there were lessons in it, particularly for the uninitiated and inexperienced.

For the most part the feedback has been positive. People have taken lessons from it, including the guys in the vid. But there were also criticisms.
Some thought I was yelling at the guys. They failed to realise that the camera was close to me, and just so that I could be heard over the wind and wave noise I had to raise my voice..
Some thought that I could have offered the guys more advice. Again what they failed to realise was that not everything that was said and done was filmed, and not everything that was filmed made the video.

One guy lacked to the courage to be critical on this thread but chose to have a subtle crack at me on another. I challenged him privately, where he suggested that I should watch my back because if these guys found out what I'd done they'd want to give me a touch up. Another thing he asked was if I'd been given permission by these guys to film and publish a video of them. To that end he had a point. I had not sought their permission, but promised that I would.

Soon after this exchange I happened to run into these guys again. I explained to them in detail what I'd done in producing the video, and my motives for it. I was also upfront in telling them about the criticism they received, and I also explained how they were also congratulated in the second video for listening to and taking on the advice given. It was put to them that If they didn't like what I'd done I would immediately delete the videos. They had no problem with it and gave me their blessing to continue using the vision.
They appreciated my honesty and thanked me for the help and advice. They were actually quite chuffed to be featured in a youtube video. They even offered to ring the guy who suggested that they'd want to give me a touch up and inform him that they were cool with it. I was happy to pass this information on to the member in question along with a message that he should stop being a troll and do something positive for the sport for a change. He hasn't posted on this forum since. I guess he had nothing positive to contribute.

This photo of Raj was taken last year on the day I told him of the videos. As far as I know he and his mate are still safely enjoying kayaking. More safely than they started anyway.

tightlines wrote:2. Practise re-entering the PA in a controlled environment (have never done this)

I've done a couple of re-entry videos you may not have seen and may be of some help. Here are the links.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WBawvg8TkI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Ec5g5L5oxw


I guess it was timely that you guys brought this thread to the fore again. I've personally got some real concerns going into this season. Lots of cheap and nasty yaks have been purchased over the off season and they'll be hitting the water with their inexperienced operators from now on. I hope we have an incident free season.

To finish this post the way it started, I'm glad that you guys have had this video come to mind and that you have taken steps to be safe on the water. That was the original intent.