Using your kayak while it is raining is one of the things you should avoid.
But in sometimes, you might still want to kayak if the rain is not too intense.
In such times, you have to follow some safety guidelines when kayaking in the rain.
This will help avoid damage to the kayak and the person in the kayak.
Some of the safety guidelines to follow when you are kayaking in the rain includes, using a kayak canopy, wearing a life jacket, wearing a thick clothe, avoiding turbulent water bodies and kayaking close to the shores.
Following these safety guidelines will help avoid damages and casualties when you are kayaking in the rain.
Safety guidelines When Kayaking In The Rain
1) Wear Your Life Jacket
Anytime you are on the water with anything, one of the things that should be a top priority is your safety.
This includes your kayaking moments too.
At such times, you have to make sure that you are using a personal floatation device.
One of the best ways of attaining a high level of safety when you are kayaking is to make sure that you wear a life jacket.
Using a life jacket when you kayak will help reduce the level of casualties if any emergency occurs.
This could be when your kayak flips over or if you use a kayak that is faulty.
2) Avoid Turbulent Water Bodies
Anytime you are kayaking, you have to make sure that you are safety conscious.
This will help you avoid doing some of the things that might cause harm when you kayak.
Some of the things to avoid when you are kayaking is making sure that you do not kayak in zones where the water current is very turbulent.
Kayaking in such water bodies will only bring harm to the person in the kayak.
That is why you have to make sure that you avoid water bodies with a very turbulent wave anytime you are kayaking on the water.
This will help increase your safety on the water.
3) Avoid Areas With Storm And Lightening
Another safety guidelines when kayaking in the rain is to make sure that you avoid areas with storm.
Also make sure that you avoid areas that has lightening.
This is to make sure that you are not electrocuted by the lightening that strikes when it is raining.
Boats and large sea vessels are built in a way that makes it easy for them to neutralize the destructive powers of a lightening.
But some other vessels that move on the water are not technologically built to repel or neutralize the electrocuting powers of lightening.
Such type of water crafts includes the kayaks.
In the kayak, there is no technological provision to neutralize the powers of lightening when they strike.
This brings the person in the kayak to a high level of danger when lightening strikes.
It can easily electrocute the person in the kayak.
That is why it is very important to make sure that you avoid kayaking when there is lightening.
4) Kayak Close To The Shores
When you are kayaking while it is raining, you have to make sure that you are close to a safe place.
One of the safe places you should be close to is the shores of the water body.
This will keep you in the sight of other people that may be close to the shores of the water body.
If anything happens while you are in the water kayaking, it will be easy for you to reach the shores and be free from casualties.
But when you are deep in the water body, any serious casualty can lead to drowning or damage to your kayak.
5) Use a Kayak Canopy
One of the things that make a kayaking time more enjoyable is having a good shade.
Having a good shade that covers your kayak will protect you from the ultraviolet rays of the sun.
This helps in reducing sun burn and also makes your kayaking moments more enjoyable.
Apart from the kayak canopy protecting you from the sun burn, it also protects you when you are kayaking in the rain.
When you are kayaking in the rain, the canopy on your kayak will help shield you from direct contact from the rain water.
This protects you from extreme cold due to wet clothes.
It will also help you see clearly when you are paddling your kayak.
This is because water from the rain will not directly pour on your face when you are kayaking.
That is why using a kayak canopy is one of the safety guidelines when you kayak in the rain.
6) Do Not Use a Faulty Kayak
Whenever you are kayaking, you have to make sure that you access the physical condition of your kayak.
This is because the condition of a kayak is very important when it comes to your safety when you are kayaking on the water.
Having a bad kayak when you are on the water is very dangerous and can easily lead to the sinking of your kayak.
To avoid this, you have to make sure that you access the physical condition of your kayak before you use it on the water.
One of the things you have to check when you are accessing the safety conditions of a kayak is the availability of holes in the kayak.
Having a hole in a kayak is very dangerous.
This will lead to the entrance of water into your kayak when you are on the water.
This increases the weight of the kayak and leads to sinking of the kayak.
If the person inside the kayak is not someone that is with a life jacket, drowning can occur.
Another thing you have to check for when examining a kayak is the air inlet of an inflatable kayak.
You have to check it well to make sure that it is not leaking.
If it leaks, it should not be used.
This is because a leaking kayak air inlet will reduce the air pressure of the kayak.
This leads to the sinking of the kayak when on the water.
That is why you have to make sure that you avoid a faulty kayak at all cost.
This is one of the safety guidelines when kayaking in the rain that should not be joked with.
7) Wear Thick Clothes To Avoid Getting Cold
One of the things you will experience when you are kayaking in the rain is cold.
Due to this, you have to make sure that you wear a cloth that is very thick.
Wearing a thick cloth will help repel cold from entering your body when you kayak in the rain.
But if you wear a cloth that is light, the tendency of you catching cold is very high.
This could head to health casualties like contacting hypothermia.
When hypothermia sets in, the temperature of your body will greatly reduce.
This leads to the malfunctioning of so many organs of the body.
If you do not get out of the water fast, it could lead to death.
That is why it is always advisable to stay out of the water when it is raining.
8) Do Not Kayak Alone
Kayaking when the rain is falling is not good when you are all alone in the water.
This limits your chances of survival if any casualty sets in while you are kayaking.
But if there are other people in the water, it is easy for someone that is in danger to be saved and brought out of the water.
But if you are all alone in the water, any casualty can cause severe damage to the kayak and also to the person in the kayak.
That is why you have to avoid entering the water with your kayak when no one is also kayaking due to rainfall.
This will help in saving you from severe damages if a casualty occurs while you kayak alone on the water.
Is It Safe To Kayak In The Rain
It is not safe to kayak in the rain.
Kayaking in the rain leads to a lot of casualties that could have been avoided.
If the rain is very small, you can still kayak close to the shores of the water body.
But in such a case, you have to make sure that you observe the safety guidelines as shown in this guide.
This includes using a kayak canopy, kayaking close to the shores of the water, wearing thick clothes and also making sure that you are not using a faulty kayak.
These safety guidelines when kayaking in the rain will help reduce the chances of sustaining damages when you kayak.
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