Category:
Day of Paddle Considerations
- The services of Casual Kayakers, may include loaning or renting equipment and providing trips (including guided trips) by kayak or SUP (referred to, collectively, as watercraft).
- Activities, scheduled and unscheduled, voluntarily and involuntary, associated with these services may include, in addition to travel by water, swimming (referred to as anytime Participant is in the water), wading, hiking, climbing on rocks and slopes, shelters & staging areas, portaging (carrying the watercraft between water travel sites) and travel to and from the activities.
- The hazards and risks (together referred to as “risks”) of the use of the watercraft include, but are not limited to, the following: entering, exiting and operating the watercraft; water which may be fast, deep, cold, and subject to rapid change; objects which may be encountered in and out of the water, and which may not be obvious, including debris, trees, rocks, boulders, bridges, and other hazards; the watercraft may overturn, swamp and sink and occupants may become separated from the craft; feet and other parts of the body may become entrapped in or under rocks and other objects; participants may strike or be struck by objects, other watercraft and other persons, in and outside of the watercraft. Risks of other activities include those associated with camping, hiking, and moving on and over terrain, including the shoreline, the premises of Casual Kayakers and others, and elsewhere, which may be unstable, steep and slippery and where rocks, trees, and other objects may fall, and man-made and natural structures may fail: animals, including poisonous reptiles or insects, and poisonous plants may cause harm; swimming in unfamiliar surroundings may cause entrapment, injury from slips and falls and drowning. Other risks include errors in judgment of the Casual Kayakers Guide and other participants, including the improper assessment of capabilities and conditions pertaining to the activities; certain activities may be instructional, and designed to extend the skills of participants; equipment may be misused or fail because of manufacturing defects or otherwise; collisions may occur while traveling by vehicle to and from the activities; the activities are subject to the unpredictable forces of nature, including exposure to the sun, cold, heat, wind, hail, lighting, flash floods and other such phenomena: activities may take place in remote places, significantly delaying emergency medical care and evacuation.
