If the four paddlers had had more experience, a number of things might have proven different once trouble started. Rosemary would have known to be wary of presenting the flat of her blade on the upwind side to the gusts of wind and also to lean into the waves as each one hit, taking advantage of the upward movement of water on the wave face. Turning a sea kayak into strong upwind conditions is never an easy task. Mark could have paddled slightly ahead of Rosemary on her windward side, shielding her bow while she tried to turn her boat into the wind. Rosemary could have raised her rudder onto the rear deck. With a rudder deployed, the stern of a kayak will not slip downwind, making it more difficult, if not impossible, to get the bow turned into the wind. If she had raised the rudder and paddled hard and fast straight across the wind she could have taken advantage of a kayak's tendency to weathercock: with more boat speed the turbulence at the stern would allow it to slip downwind, causing her kayak to turn with less effort into the wind. She would take advantage of the weathercocking by using sweep strokes on the downwind side.

Rosemary also could have shifted her hands along the paddle shaft toward the upwind blade, thereby allowing greater leverage for wide downwind sweep strokes, and paddled only on the downwind side. Performing this kind of a turn with a strong lean that places the kayak further on edge makes for an even tighter turn. These are all skills learned with time and training.

It is rarely a good idea to let a kayak go. Well-practiced assisted rescues may have allowed Rosemary and Mark to get back into their kayaks after their capsizes. Bailers could have been improvised from whatever might have been close at hand, including items such as saucepans, rain hats, a day bag, etc.

This group was overwhelmed by sudden and severe winds that, although they may be uncommon, should be expected in the waters near Pond Inlet. It is always the responsibility of the paddler to be fully prepared, to avoid problems before they become insurmountable, and to be prepared and able to accomplish their own rescues. In the final analysis it is the paddler who needs to research the intended area of travel, possess the boat handling and rescue skills to deal with the environment, and have back-up equipment and plans in place. This group of paddlers thought their short outing would be easy, no more difficult than a paddle in less extreme latitudes. Phil relates his feelings, "I just wish someone had tapped us all on our shoulders and said, 'Hey, this is the Arctic, you need to be ten times as careful up here.'"

The deaths of Mark and Marilyn were a terrible tragedy. The story is compelling because it could have happened to anyone-suddenly changing conditions can catch paddlers of all experience levels off guard. Even experts would have been hard-pressed to perform some of the rescues or turn their kayaks into the fierce wind that hit the group. Both Phil and Rosemary were extremely lucky to survive-Phil doubly so.

Nicholas Mark Seltzer was awarded the Governor General of Canada's Medal of Bravery (posthumously in 1999) for his "act of bravery in hazardous circumstances." Phillip King, Elizabeth Mitchell and Pascal Ertlé each received a commendation from the Governor General for "an act of great merit in providing assistance to others in a selfless manner."

Marilyn Chan's body was never recovered. She remains somewhere near her wildflowers, high in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago where the struggle for life and death is never very far away.

Doug Lloyd is an avid paddler who lives in Victoria, where he is a medical claims assessor with the provincial government of British Columbia, Canada, and a part-time woodworking instructor.

Doug would like to thank Gail Ferris for technical help and express appreciation to Phil and Rosemary for opening the incident to review and sharing a difficult story for publication.
In memory of Mark and Marilyn, the "Seltzer-Chan Pond Inlet Foundation" exists to provide assistance to local Inuit communities. Details can be found on the Web at: http://www.interlog.com/~elegant/mm/index.htm