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There is a great article on KayakQuixotica.com about Expedition Sea Kayaking, but I think it has alot in common with whitewater kayaking. Well worth a read
KayakQuixotica.com - "Are you F'in Kidding Me"
I think all this stuff conspires to create some of the issues we are seeing today. More and more paddlers are taking risks. Luckily in expeditioning most of the time bad judgment results in unnecessary call outs, but everyone lives to tell the tale. (However the number of weekend tragedies on local lakes and rivers does seem to be getting a bit out of hand.) While most are well prepared, some are probably not. Like any growth sport, the more we grow the more there will be people out there who will get ahead of themselves. They will have too many easy lessons and not build up that proper sense of fear. Worse they will let the testosterone lead them! They won’t give the attention they need to the “what ifs?” because they don’t actually feel the possibility in a real way. They won’t talk to folks with experience and will miss some important nuances of proper preparation. We know this, it happens in every sport. To some extent I doubt there is anything anyone can do. With more boats out there, there are going to be more tragedies.