I'm posting here to comment on the Safety article in the February 2011 issue of Sea Kayaker. If there was access to the Safety Forum where comments on articles in the mag are supposed to be aired, I'd comment there. But it seems new posts for that Forum are not permitted (why not?)

I have a strong feeling that SK is going to receive many, many comments on that tale by Bart Allen Berry. I'd be interested in others' reactions to Berry's saga. Chris Cunningham notes, in a short comment at the end of the article, that "the oversights of knowledgeable paddlers can't be chalked up to inexperience." I submit that Berry is not a knowledgeable paddler. He is certainly an experienced paddler, but evidently none of his previous kayaking experience made him even remotely a mariner, which is what anyone paddling open water in a sea kayak needs to be. He went miles offshore in essentially a bare boat, without adequate boat flotation, chart, compass, pump, decklines, PFD, VHF or other signalling device, and with a leaky sprayskirt and, worst of all, a mind completely empty of any notion of being a mariner, prepared, at sea. Sad stuff indeed. We can only hope that Berry not only properly equips himself and his boat for future outings, but also undergoes a profound change in his whole mental approach to open water kayaking--that he becomes a mariner.

After reading 6 books on sea kayaking I am shocked at what people do. Even experienced people breaking every basic rule. For once it pays to be a pessimist as I have geared up and tried to learn what it takes to be safer on the water. Sadly it is not like your car where you wait for help and it is no big deal if you are stuck unless the weather is extreme.

It is still no replacement for skill but a VHF is really a must. With the price of them now they are a bargain. That said when after two years I tried to get water temp with mine by placing it in the water it failed. Few days later it had corrosion because of a defective case which the manufacturer took care of with a new radio, You need all the tricks up your sleeve you can get to battle Mother Nature.

Bart Allen Berry tells his story of being rescued by the Mexican Marines after 3 hours in the water. An "expert" paddler Berry left Punta Banda for Todas Santos Island. Using a whitewater kayak with no float bags, wearing a wet suit but no PFD he set off after e-mailing his girlfriend his intended paddling destination. Unexpected high winds made it impossible to reach his destination and a leaky spray deck allowed the large waves he was experiencing to slowly fill his boat with water till it was not stable enough to keep ride-side up. Fortunately he was spotted by a commercial vessel and reported to the Mexican Navy who responded.

The story is followed up by comments from our editor, linking this story to the past few we have had where expert paddlers have found themselves in life threatening situations. We'd like to hear your comments.

PS - thank you to Strangemagic for calling me on the carpet for not having this forum available.

In Berry's article, about the weather, he notes only that the morning of the 31st was beautiful and sunny--nothing about whether or not he had consulted a weather report for the day. Later he tells us that "The wind started to kick up. Ferociously. Five-foot rollers with the occasional eight- to ten-footer--no big deal for a whitewater kayaker, except that the wind and current I was now fighting was not letting me make any forward progress." He tells us also that, due to the leaky sprayskirt, he was sitting in water up past his ankles--"not that unusual of a development". Huh!?!

On a hunch, I decided to look up the weather forecast for Ensenada for October 31st, looking at the forecasts for that date given both on the 30th and on the 31st: Winds: NW 15-20 knots; seas 5 feet. Berry says the day's weather was "different, unexpected and unpredictable." I rest my case.

I guess my question is why is he an expert?

And I would also question his plan for that particular trip in a WW boat. The gear issues aside, paddling a WW boat 9 miles in open water without wind and waves would be an absolute nightmare adding those conditions should have made for a quick about face and return to shore.

I've seen "guides" do some pretty goofy stuff that makes me scratch my head and paddle away before I have to get involved in dressing down some kid for not even making sure his clients are able to fit in the boats before launching...really. Perhaps judgment, or the lack thereof, is the real culprit here.

Mark, I agree 100%. Almost all SK Safety writeups end with "Lessons Learned" by the survivor/author of the piece. The only things that Berry contributes as things it might have been nice to have on board were maybe a strobe and a smoke cannister; otherwise it seems there's nothing he would do or think differently next time out. He tells us over and over that we've just got to understand that he does things his way, whether it's how he equips his boat, the boat itself, his approach to being at sea in a kayak, etc. It's a fascinating and bizarre study of hubris run amok.

Hope I never get to write a story like that! Much easier to get in trouble than out of it.

I agree with StrangeMagic, MikeKayak and Mark on this incident, and I also think Chris Cunningham's remarks following the article go right to the heart of the matter. Experience is no substitute for good judgement.

Nor is it any match for hubris. Bart Allen Berry follows his "expert paddler" self-designation with the following observation: "Egos get us into all kinds of trouble, as I was about to find out". So true.

His story has a familiar refrain that pops up in a wide range of outdoor incidents in pursuits as diverse as rockclimbing, whitewater, paragliding, mountaineering, and our own sport of sea kayaking. You're strong. You're skilled. You've been paddling since before Rome fell. You've guided, you've taught multitudes, and along the way, you've also grown accustomed to having people look up to you as an "expert".

The cardinal error, a very easy and seductive trap to fall into, is buying into the hype; embracing the myth that your vaunted skills and wealth of experience somehow magically exempt you from the rules and forces of nature that govern mere mortals.

His is certainly a story of hubris writ large, but of all the things he did wrong, perhaps his most egregious mistake was complacency; his failure to treat the natural environment with the respect it merits each and every time you go out. When a little leak in the sprayskirt almost results in your demise, it's time to rethink your whole approach to the sport.

The mindset of a would-be adventurer largely dictates how well an expedition succeeds, or if it will end in death and tragedy. No book better illustrates this than Roland Huntford's classic dual biography of polar explorers Roald Amundsen and Robert Falcon Scott, entitled The Last Place on Earth. As we remember, Amundsen reached the South Pole first, and raced back to his base camp with abundant supplies and in robust health. Scott literally dragged his way to the Pole, then died with all his companions on the way back. Huntford's book is an essential read on how to, and how NOT to, plan for a serious outing amid the perils of the natural world, as well as being a wonderful story in its own right. Had Berry read such a book somewhere in his past life, we might all have been spared the report of his unhappy stunt.

From the start, my issue with Bart Berry and with so many others who's stories end up in the Safety section of Sea Kayaker, is that he and they are not mariners. While I completely support and applaud the development of boat-handling skills--rolling, bracing, strokes--and rescue skills, etc. on the part of sea kayakers, it is too common that many highly-skilled boat handlers still remain woefully unlearned in the essentials of weather, wind, waves, currents, tides, fetch, etc. that mariners need to know to safely paddle open water. I'll take Berry at his word that he has a can't-fail roll, seventeen kinds of brace, 6 types of rescue, and all the "experience" in the world. But "experience" and skills are not enough. Knowledge of the marine realm best comes from extensive reading (a lost art), coupled with increasingly challenging open-water paddling, but the reading comes first. There's no evidence that Berry ever cracked a book (sea kayaking manual, for starters) to find out more about how to prepare himself to paddle miles offshore in the Pacific. It's knowledge (book-learning, study), along with experience and skills, that helps make one a mariner.

As an aside, while you're at the launch site, getting the boat and yourself ready for the day's trip, it's best to always assume that conditions will deteriorate from what they are at the launch: winds will be stronger, waves bigger and more confused, currents swifter and more turbulent. If you know and accept that and are prepared for that, you're ready to launch.

There is also something you left out. And its something that many people fail to look at or tap into. Judgment.

There are risks associated with any recreational sport. Sea Kayaking is no different. You need a solid skill set and if you venture out in open water you need to be a mariner able to cope with weather tides and the multitude of other factors.

This paddler seems to have throw good judgement right out the window. You can mitigate the risks associated with Sea Kayaking by being preprepared, but nothing should substitute good judgement and assessment of ones skills.

Horizon, I couldn't agree more. I've addressed the importance of judgment in other posts, naming judgment, judgment, judgment 3 of the 5 most important attributes to bring to sea kayaking, along with skills and experience. I think that being a mariner means having the capacity, the knowledge, and the self-knowledge that constitutes proper judgment on the water.

In a sloppy and rambling reply to a critic's Letter (one of many)in the latest SK, Bart Allen Berry reaffirms that he is clueless about offshore kayaking. We are told that his decisions (about turning around, about his competence, about the "unique" conditions that day) were "weighed with...meticulous analysis..." About the leaky sprayskirt, it "...although worn, was quite serviceable on every day except this one... In all cases besides this one, I would have been able to roll, bail, get back in, etc., no problem. I am fully capable of doing all this and was prepared to, except for that extreme wind."

About that wind. When confronted by SK about wind and sea conditions predicted for that day, Berry was forced to admit that he'd never checked a forecast; he just assumed that the weather and wind would remain mellow all day. This is the definition of cluelessness in someone venturing miles offshore in a kayak.

Berry finishes up by saying he should have had a paddle float with him, "a better sponge, maybe something to bail with and I could have managed all right alone." The man needs to go back and re-read his own article; he was paddling a water-filled boat caused by a a leaky sprayskirt and by a senseless decision to paddle for more than 3 hours into a fierce opposing wind, waves and current. A better sponge, a bailer, and a paddle float, at this point in his adventure, would have been of no use to him at all, given the cascade of previous bad decisions "weighed with meticulous analysis". Berry ends by writing that his experience has given him "some fresh perspective, but I don't know how much it will change my personal lightweight, free solo, traditionalist ethic." Bart Berry is clearly no mariner, just some guy with a kayak who is lucky to be alive.

couldn't agree more!

It is curious that Bart Allen Bradley (BAB)says that after inspection of his "minimalist" ethic he wouldn't change anything. If you are unable - or in this case, unwilling - to learn from your mistakes than you are a risk to yourself and to others.

As a former climber and mountaineer self sufficiency and self rescue are paramount and I take this ethic with me where ever I go. The thought of needing external assistance and the risks to others that it engenders makes me squirm in my seat, but clearly, not BAB. He was willing to endanger others to live by his ethic. But is it an ethic? Is it really minimalist or ethical to do things that require others to endanger themselves to effect rescue? Is it still adhering to the minimalist ethic to accept rescue from outside forces, especially if you don't have the tools to rescue yourself? No.

To go back to climbing, the ultimate minimalist approach is free soloing. No ropes or equipment. Also no backup in case of error. I've done it...many times. When I employed this ethic on the rock I did so knowing the risks - and penalties - of this ethic. I also know many people that paid the ultimate price as they plunged to their death. There is no apples to apples comparison in kayaking. Simply to engage in our chosen activity we require significant equipment reserves so the "minimalist" approach is already bogus.

BAB says that he would bring a sponge?! I hope that the tour company that has employed him in the past reconsiders, otherwise it is only a matter of time before he risks others and not just himself.