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Safety Tips for Ocean Ski Paddlers

PFD’s

A PFD is obviously an important piece of safety equipment, it will help keep you afloat if you become separated from your ski. By law, they are mandatory for kayaks but ski paddlers are exempt in surf. The Police are now questioning whether paddling in open water is in fact surf conditions.

Leash

A leash is a vital piece of safety equipment. If you fall off in more than 5 knots of wind, you will not be able to swim fast enough to catch your ski. You can purchase ski specific leashes but a standard 3 meter surfboard leg rope will suffice and prevent you from being separated from your ski and still allow you to climb back on. A paddle leash will also prevent you from loosing that too.

Visibility

A paddler off their ski is very hard to see. Having a safety sausage or bright paddle blades to wave in the air will dramatically improve your chances of being seen. A safety sausage is an inflatable tube, 2 meters long and brightly coloured, that packs up very small. We will also have flouro green “Southern Paddlers” paddle stickers available soon. Brightly coloured PFD’s help you to bee seen whilst paddling.

Mobile Phone

Being able to call the race officials (during a race) to let them know that you are lost, have retired or require help can save a lot of stress and hassle for everyone. Waterproof phone bags are not expensive and can be attached to yourself or your ski. This can be very handy on training paddles as well.

Appropriate Clothing

Clothing needs to be cool enough while paddling but warm enough if you fall in. The water temperature is 12 degrees at the moment and you can be hypothermic within 5 minutes if not dressed appropriately. Once back on your ski, your clothing needs to be wind proof and quick drying otherwise hypothermia will soon set in also. It is very hard to balance when hypothermic. Even in the height of summer our water only reaches 18 degrees. Sun protection should also be a consideration.

Practice

No matter how good you think you are, if you are paddling hard, you will fall in occasionally. Climbing back on quickly is desirable and the more you practice, the less likely you are of getting into trouble.