Subject: Re: [baidarka] Life and death and the whole damn thing
From: William Nettles (netttles@adelphia.net)
Date: Fri Nov 05 2004 - 12:29:36 EST
As a former Masters Swimmer and someone who had sinus infections his
whole life, the biggest problem usually is not the quality of the water
but getting water up my nose or in my ears. It doesn't take whatever
common bacteria there is everywhere to start growing into a painful
problem.
Swimming I always wore nose clips (I got tired of paying $3 and made my
own from #12 electrical wire and Plastic Dip (for tool handles).
For ears -plugs help.
Now I doubt we're going to dress for deep sea diving just to paddle.
The other thing we did was to keep a little squeeze bottle that was
half Hydrogen Peroxide and half alcohol (rubbing alcohol was enough).
The HP kills the bacteria and the alcohol being hydroscopic sucked up
the water and lowered its evaporation temperature making it dry up a
lot quicker. (I'm sure you guy's'll correct my chemistry).
I think the thing to do is keep a couple of nose clips handy in the
cockpit or in a PFD pocket (lookee the surf this landing is gonna be
wet) and have a tiny squeeze bottle of HP/Alc handy.
On Nov 4, 2004, at 5:37 PM, <kiayker@sbcglobal.net> wrote:
> I teach kayaking classes here in sunny Southern California year
> round and
> have "gone swimming" in the water in our bays and harbors in ALL
> conditions.
> As a result I have frequently contracted ear and sinus infections. So
> far
> they have not been fatal. I think the trick is to understand when the
> conditions are "not good" and take appropriate counter actions. Take a
> shower as soon as you get home and pay extra special attention to your
> ears
> and sinuses for the next couple of days. A whole lot of crap gets
> washed
> into our ocean with the first rains of the season, and if you are
> going to
> venture into the water during these times then you take your chances. I
> especially loved it a couple of years ago when we had our first good
> rain
> after a long period of drought and my favorite surf beach was closed
> for a
> couple of days due to rattlesnakes in the water having been washed out
> of
> the nearby canyons. Now THAT can kill you!
>
>
>
> Scott
>
> So.Cal.
> -
> Baidarka Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be
> reproduced outside Baidarka or Baidarka archives without author's
> permission
> Submissions: baidarka@paddlewise.net
> Subscriptions: baidarka-request@paddlewise.net
> Searchable archive: http://rtpnet.org/robroy/baidarka
-
Baidarka Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be
reproduced outside Baidarka or Baidarka archives without author's permission
Submissions: baidarka@paddlewise.net
Subscriptions: baidarka-request@paddlewise.net
Searchable archive: http://rtpnet.org/robroy/baidarka
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b27 : Wed Dec 01 2004 - 01:30:02 EST