Paddlesports

The most common safety problem with paddleboats like canoes and rowboats is capsizing. If you keep sitting the whole time you're in the boat, your chances of tipping over are greatly reduced. If you do have to change seats in the boat, keep low and always have three points of contact with the boat: either two feet and one hand, or two hands and one foot.

According to Critical Judgment: Understanding and Preventing Canoe and Kayak Fatalities (American Canoe Association, 2003), the following statistics show the main dangers:

• 75% of all fatalities involving canoes and kayaks were associated with canoeing.
• 83% of all canoeing-related fatality victims were not wearing a PFD at the time of the accident.
• Moving around the boat and shifting weight played a major role in roughly half of all canoeing accidents.
• Approximately half the people killed while canoeing or kayaking were fishing at the time of the accident.
• At least 25% of victims in fatal canoeing accidents had consumed alcohol immediately prior to the accident.

To be sure you don't become an unfortunate statistic, follow these rules when you canoe or kayak:

1. Wear a properly fitted PFD.
2. Don't drink alcohol or use drugs that impair your judgment or behavior.
3. Be prepared to enter the water, and know how to swim. If you are in a current, float on your back with your feet downstream.
4. If you need to move about in a canoe or kayak, stay low and keep three points of contact with the boat: either two hands and one foot, or both feet and one hand.
5. Load the boat properly. Keep the weight centered both from side to side and bow to stern. Generally, the lower and closer the load is to the centerline of the boat, the more stable the boat will be, assuming there is adequate freeboard. Stay within the limits of the capacity rating on the capacity plate, if one is present.
6. Keep your shoulders inside the gunwales of the boat. When retrieving something from the water, reach with your paddle, or guide the boat close to the object so you can grab the item from the water without leaning your shoulders over the gunwale.
7. Never paddle alone. There is safety in numbers.
8. Avoid extreme conditions, including weather, distance from the shore, water conditions, current caused by flood waters or fast current beyond your skill level.
9. Take hands-on training. Paddling instruction will teach you balance, use of stabilizing strokes, safe exit and entry on the water, and rescue and recovery skills.