Rescued Kayaker Says "Thank You!"

There's a follow-up to the news of the kayaker who was rescued on November 5. John posted a note here on Kayak Yak about this story. There's an article about the rescue here at the Times-Colonist newspaper. It's always good to hear more about an incident of this kind, so we paddlers can understand what happened. What went wrong? What went right?

Here's a map showing Cattle Point where the kayaker launched.

Jim Cliffe is alive and well today for several reasons, two of which were Leaving A Float Plan With Ground Crew, and the Oak Bay Sea Rescue Society coming to his rescue. Once he was ashore, he was taken to hospital and treated for hypothermia. (Being cold isn't just uncomfortable -- it leads to being unable to move or think well, and that's even more dangerous when on the water!) Let's give a big cheer for emergency services people and for hospitals!
It's a big thing, being able to depend on other people to save our lives. But we paddlers have to depend on ourselves first and foremost. When Jim Cliffe put on his clothes for immersion, he made it possible to stay alive for about three hours in the water until he was overdue and his ground crew sent the OBSR people to find him.
We know Jim Cliffe's name now, because this rescued kayaker has come out of anonymity and publicly thanked his rescuers in a letter to the editor that was published in the Times-Colonist newspaper. It's worth taking the time to read his letter, so here's a link.