Lbeale Posted May 22, 2005 Share Posted May 22, 2005 On Saturday a few NSPN hearty or delirious souls met at Pavillion Beach, Gloucester Harbor, for the Tows and Rescue workshop. Cold, damp, wind, and rain did not deter these hearty paddlers. Brian and John where co-leaders of my group. I learnt the importance of brushing up on skills at the beginning of the warm weather season--particularly the t-rescue. Again and again, one of us jumped into that cold Gloucester water only to be rescued. I, of course, forgot to fully burp my drysuit before jumping in the water, so floated as opposed to swam. If you don't burp your drysuit before paddling and you end up in the water, it makes it difficult to swim or help in the rescue--lesson learnt. The patience, humor, and guidance of John and Brian in helping the paddling-challenged like myself to perform rescues was commendable. Thank you and all the more seasoned paddlers who volunteered their time and expertise, Scott, Rick, Linda, Dee (apologies if I forgot someone) for your kindness. Les Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eneumeier Posted May 22, 2005 Share Posted May 22, 2005 > I, of course, forgot >to fully burp my drysuit before jumping in the water, so >floated as opposed to swam. If you don't burp your drysuit >before paddling and you end up in the water, it makes it >difficult to swim or help in the rescue--lesson learnt. Failure to burp can also result in you floating upside down if the air is forced out of your arms/torso area and trapped in your legs. Unusual, but bad. Liz N. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djlewis Posted May 23, 2005 Share Posted May 23, 2005 > Failure to burp can also result in you floating upside down > if the air is forced out of your arms/torso area and trapped in your > legs. Unusual, but bad. Hmmm... that brings up the concept of a wet exit from your dry suit. Or maybe, you should just pull on the neck gasket, which will let the air out and some water in. But that seems better than the alternative. --David. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dee Hall Posted May 23, 2005 Share Posted May 23, 2005 >> Failure to burp can also result in you floating upside down >> if the air is forced out of your arms/torso area and trapped in your >> legs. Unusual, but bad. > >Hmmm... that brings up the concept of a wet exit from your >dry suit. Or maybe, you should just pull on the neck >gasket, which will let the air out and some water in. But >that seems better than the alternative. > Um, nope. Even if you opened up your zipper, the air would still be trapped in your legs (water heavier than air). The good news is that there would have to be an awful lot of air in a baggy dry suit to have more bouyancy than a proper PFD. On a happier note, I had a lot of fun on Saturday being a teabag again. Having an extra layer of fleece on underneath meant I could spend a lot of time in the water without getting cold. It also meant that I could do a static braces and Petrussen maneuvers easily (weeee!) Although I did burp my suit, so I could still capsize and roll. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djlewis Posted May 23, 2005 Share Posted May 23, 2005 >Um, nope. Even if you opened up your zipper, the air would >still be trapped in your legs (water heavier than air). Yeah, I realized that later. I guess the thing to do if you find yourself hanging upside down like that would be a dry-land style burp -- open up the neck gasket and double up into fetal position. If you time it right, you might not even get any water in. Do we need to practice this? ;-)) --David. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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