: I'm reading my October 2012 Sea Kayaker Magazine, Safety article.
: Whale lands on kayak, experienced (but injured) swimmers have to
: swim 2 miles to shore.

: OK. I was an ocean swimmer, not very fast but strong enough. In
: dainty little Speedos I used to swim two miles in 50 minutes.
: Well enough.
: When I consider a possible accident where I lose my kayak, (a whale
: landing on it would defeat any bulkheads) I see myself in the
: water needing to quickly decide whether to stay put, call the
: Coast Guard, wait; or start swimming for shore.
: I can't imagine how long two miles would take in a PFD. Take it off
: and use it as a paddle board? Probably not much faster. I've got
: a near world class kick--if I'm wearing fins. Bare feet--I can
: actually go backwards.

: The PFD has all the gear, radios, extra hat, gloves, knife.... I
: always wear it. Knocked on the head, no PFD is going to keep my
: head out of the water. So they aren't perfect, but for winding
: up in the water with no boat--they're pretty effective.

: An ideal solution might be . . . . .
: 1. If the PFD could be also used as an effective (streamlined)
: paddle board. It would have to work first as a life jacket, hold
: all the safety stuff, but if it could also be configured into a
: paddle board--it would facilitate swimming ashore. (It wouldn't
: have to be larger or more buoyant than they already are. The
: Speedo kick boards for swim practice have more than enough
: floatation.)
: And 2. If attached were a pair of fins. Anything from the Speedo
: kicking practice fins to much longer scuba fins would make
: anyone faster and able to travel longer distance than arms and
: wiggling feet alone.

: My final point is that even if one is waiting for the USCG to come
: to the rescue, kicking towards shore or even in circles will
: keep a person warmer than just waiting--even if one is swimming
: in place (I've experienced this in workouts. Treading water in
: one place isn't as warming as swimming/kicking. Even to the
: point of exhaustion it isn't. Ever done the 'hold your hands in
: the air and tread water'?)

: Just thinking.

If you are a good swimmer then pull the PFD when you swim. I once did a 36 hour adventure race across and around the Great Bahamas Island. It started with 10 mile beach run then a short 3/4 mile swim out to a little island and then back to shore. The race director gave us the option of picking up a PFD at the beach as we entered the water. I am not as strong a swimmer as some so I wanted to play it safe and have the flotation along. I also knew wearing it was out of the question since I was actually racing. I used a piece of short rope and made a large loop around my shoulder to tow the PFD. While it did create some drag it was not nearly as bad as trying to wear it.

Kyle T