Hi Mat-

It was NickJC who made the relevancy comment, not me.

My point on solo was that if conditions are rough, a paddle float self-rescue (including reattaching the skirt, pumping out the cockpit, recovering the paddle and detaching & securing the float etc) may not be possible. That might well have been the reason that Robert Weitzel was found without his boat. On the other hand, maybe he lost his grip and his boat blew away; happened to me once. In rough, cold water, solo = zero margin for error.