Saltwater Boat Angling — December 2017

56 Saltwater Boat Angling

A

fter several incidents

involving kayak anglers

local to me, and after

watching the RNLI Saving

Lives At Sea series on the BBC

(where not a programme goes by

without a kayaker getting into

difficulty) it occurred to me that

these could have been avoided or

dealt with differently. But, with lack

of knowledge and self-awareness,

plus just being totally pig-headed,

these people got into a downward

spiral of events where, luckily for

them, the outcome was favourable.

They were either rescued by the

RNLI or, luck being on their side,

they managed, with some assistance

from fellow anglers, to get to shore

and safety.

How prepared am I?

This got me thinking about my own

safety equipment. In the event of

needing to be rescued, how easy am

I to locate? I was thinking about a

fairly scary episode a few years ago,

where I had been battling a big tide

with a strong headwind for nearly an

hour and, only just making headway,

I managed to make it back to the

beach where I had launched, totally

exhausted. So, when do we make the

call for help, a call we never want to

make but it’s one that we need to

think about? How long would we all

battle on or, refuse to admit we were

in trouble in the first place, and wait

in hope that things would get better?

Where I live, in Northumberland, I’m

fortunate that my local RNLI lifeboat

is staffed with some good friends.

They are a very experienced and

approachable crew and, when I when

Irene Hodgson looks at how to

stay safe when in your kayak

SAFETY AT SEA

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