Compendium of errors

Watching water levels rise over much of the country this week, plus seeing a posting that the Snake River Canoe Race is going to require PFDs to be worn this year has me thinking about safety.  I started out planning to write about boating safety, but after watching the carnage at Trans Iowa, creek levels on the Almanzo course, and dodging storms driving back from Oklahoma last weekend, I'm going to broaden out a bit and write mostly about common sense.

Years ago, in another lifetime, I was a sailor.   I raced on Puget Sound in everything from 14' dinghies to 50' ocean racing yachts.  But most of the time, I was racing in 24' one design boats of one form or another.  And we raced in some truly idiotic conditions.  Usually, foul weather gear, wool pants and a wool sweater were enough to keep you pretty toasty, but with 48 degree water, 42 degree air, and often a little rain or spray - hypothermia could be a real danger.  And there's nothing like a 30knot breeze, too much sail, bad judgement and an abortive spinnaker run to put you in the water, further hampering your decision making processes.
  After a couple of instances like that, I took safety a little more seriously - in fact attending a symposium on rescue techniques and survival.  One of the presenters was a Coast Guard captain who talked about several incidents, and their chronology.  I've never forgotten the phrase "a compendium of errors" that he used to describe the chain of events leading up to the final disaster.  In most of the cases he cited, it wasn't one single event that caused the problem - it was a chain of manageable crises, any one of which could probably have been survived, but when coupled together spelled disaster. Wife unfamiliar with operating the diesel, husband knocked unconscious by the boom, poor grounding on the electrics affecting radio and instruments, no radar reflector and rapidly degrading weather.  Any one or even two of these could likely have been handled, but in the end...
A compendium of errors.

I've gotten home from springtime bike rides shaking so badly that I had a hard time opening the door and stood in the shower with my clothes on until the hot water was gone trying to warm up. A flat tire would've been more than I could've handled.  I've also done a quick strip on the side of the river to put on dry clothing after an untimely swim in mid-April, when staying wet would've likely been problematic - but dry and quickly warming up, I continued on for the rest of the 4 hour paddle.  And I've lost a good friend in a surfski accident on an inland lake due to that same compendium of errors.  Temperature and precipitation are not your friends in the spring and fall.

I haven't had a chance to talk to Trans Iowa riders yet, but I'd bet that the ones who survived and the ones who had to stop have some incredible war stories of cold, wind, rain, storms, mud and maybe a little glory.  Incredible effort this year.

OK, enough doom and gloom.  Whether riding, paddling, sailing or hiking in the spring (or any other time) be prepared for conditions.  "Check six" as pilots say - look behind you to see what the weather is doing.  If you are paddling, have a change of clothes and a warm hat.  Bring a rain jacket, fingered gloves, a vest, cape or whatever.  Bring a little extra food, and make sure you know the conditions.  Traveling in the spring often gives you a different perspective on the countryside, so enjoy it.  But be prepared for the conditions.