Tethered or not tethered...that is the question?

[gerryw]

I've been reading many USA kayak/fishing/sot sites recently where there is a debate as to whether it is better to tether yourself to your kayak or not.
The basis of the argument is that you would naturally (?) wish to tether your paddle to either you or your yak and that in the event of falling in you would not then loose the paddle.
OK...but what about loosing the yak? If you go overboard and it is not tethered to you and the conditions are just right (or wrong?) you might surface to see your yak some way away. I am sure we have all practiced re-entry in good conditions (if not you should) but what about the short swim to a yak that is being blown away from you? That could turn into a very long and dangerous swim. An argument against this is that you instinctively hang on to your paddle when taking a dip and if this is tethered to the boat then all is well. Mmmm....I cannot say that I would 'remember' to hold on tight if such a thing happened out of the blue. Bit like an emergency stop during driving lessons....when you know the examiner is going to do it you are at least partially prepared but you find it very different in real life.
It is another reason not to go offshore alone but can we avoid this happening at all if we had say an ankle leash similar to those used by surfers?
Of course we must also avoid unnecessary clutter for fear of entanglement. (How many of you practice the re-entry when fully laden with twin rods, scotty mount, gps, fishfinder all in place? I was very surprised as to what difference a simple fishfinder made to my re-entry let alone rods as well.
It would be interesting to know if any of you do tether up in some way and if so how?

[round]

I used a tether with a yak board in a strong offshore wind when surfing. Entanglement felt like it was a threat, but it never happened - even a bit. The tether broke in the end though! (It was only designed for a surf board, though a proper one.) The tether did make sure that the yak hit me on the head each time I capsized when surfing - luckily I had a helmet!

A possible suggestion is that you could use the tow line that you should certainly be carrying as a tether. The Palm ocean pro 10m line is really nicely made and IMHO worth the rather staggering price when you see the detail. You could clip this line to your yak when not used. If you were to fall off then the line will automatically pay out from the pouch up to the 10m, or less if you have chained it up. The tow line features an emergency release for the belt round your waist which should mean that you can get rid of it if things go wrong, and and it is stored in a pouch on the belt normally so in theory there is little chance of entanglement as you fall off. Next time I am on a suitable training course I will try it and see how it pans out in real life.

Above a certain wind speed even a sea kayak (sit in) will start to roll across the top of the water and so you would never catch it swimming. I should imagine that a SOT will go in far less wind. (All the fishing rods may help a lot to keep it upside down though.) If you lose the yak then it is down to your mates and the gear you have on your person. As part of a training exercise I helped to try and recover a swimmer to shore. It is surprisingly difficult as the going is *very* slow with the swimmer in the water, but few kayaks will carry an extra person especially in a big sea!

Another situation where it is possible to become separated from your yak is when anchored in a current, which is a risk that is not likely to be covered in detail in normal kayak safety training.

David

[THURSOMAN]

Good question to give careful thought to Gerry.
If you do a quick search on the forum you'll see this discussed previously.

Personally if I'm on my own I tether myself to the kayak with a quick release with floating rope and tether my paddle to the kayak.

Goes without saying a sharp good quality safety knife(preferably pointless) is vital where ever lines/ropes are present.

Chris