: I've paddled with groups in conditions I wouldn't paddle in alone.
: Was that smart? It's easy to think we can rescue each other if
: we get in trouble but from the accident reports I've seen, this
: often put more people in the water.

The answer to your question here, Rob, is in the book, Deep Trouble and to save you the trouble of looking it up, I will provide the answer here: NO!!!!! If I recall correctly, in the article within the book, some very experienced paddlers tried to rescue each other and mostly failed: the death of a very gutsy and experienced paddler occurred. I refuse to take anyone out in conditions that I would go alone in...and I am very careful these days about what kind of weather and water I allow myself to get into. Guess that is why I am still paddling today.

Robert N Pruden