Being a complete Kayak idiot (3 steps below intro-novice) I read the various threads on kayaking accidents. Interesting to me is the fact that there seems to be one common thread in all of these situations.

NO ONE CARED at the beginning to speak up and DO something.

Take the cape cod incident of a few days ago. Had the club members who saw them leave spoken to the 2 girls, they would have been informed of the potentially deteriorating conditons and could have made their decision to paddle based on new information. They could have abandoned their plans to paddle (preferred) OR they could have paddled only in the area of the launch ramp or within a few feet of the shoreline keeping it visible at all times. This could have been done under the guise of "recruiting" new members for the club. In any event, a little fear in the back of their minds could have saved their lives. But; NONE of the informed members of the club did or said anything. Was this because they were too lazy? Or because they felt that they didn't need to get involved? Or that it wasn't any of their business?

And the blame doesn't stop there. I don't know if there was anyone "official" at the ramp or parking lot, but there should have been warning flags posted somewhere. Where were they and if none why not?

And speaking of official, how come the coast guard won't accept float plans? How hard would it be to go there, hand a plan to the guy/gal and have them put it in a folder in alphabetical order every day? At the end of the day, go get it back. Simple, neat, orderly, and EVERYONE must be required to file one which gets them to somewhere "official" where they can learn that the conditions are getting bad and are going to get worse so "don't go out".

For myself, I am not one to take unnecessary risks. Especially if it involves someone else's life. While I will risk my own life, if necessary, I will only do so IF I believe that: 1) it is necessary and; 2) that I stand a better than likely chance at survival. Going out on the water, into the backcountry, or whatever, without looking at the weather report is stupid. Doing that and being absolutely unprepared for basic survival is idiotic.

Mankind invented language so that he could communicate dangers to others. It's time we learned to use language for it's intended purpose. You see someone being idiotic, say something to them. They may not like it but it could save them from themselves.