One of the more common injuries that paddlers get is tendinitis or carpal tunnel in the wrists. One of the more common reasons why is that new paddlers tend to grip their paddle to tight causing unnecessary stress in the wrists and forearms. This is something that instructors need to make students aware of.

There are a couple of different methods to help mitigate this repetitive injury. You can go out and get an ergonomic bent shaft paddle which helps keep your wrists in better alignment or you can focus on gripping the paddle shaft as light as possible and spend some time before paddling stretching and warming up before jumping on the water.

If you do find yourself with tense, sore or inflamed wrists as I often do, you can spend some time going through stretches specifically for your wrists. The video below is a great demonstration of several that are very good in helping to stretch out the tendons again and hopefully bring you some relief.

James over at the Recreation Law Blog has been pouring over the latest drowning deaths collected by the US Coast Guard and the results are a little grim.

Eureka City Councilman Larry Glass is being called a hero this week after helping to save the life of a woman who jumped from the Samoa Bridge.

He was out for a paddle after working for 14 days straight when he heard the fire truck sirens racing out to the bridge. Paddling harder, he went over to see what was going on. When the EMS personal noticed Glass his is kayak, they frantically started gesturing ot get his attention and call him over.

"It was pouring rain and the water was freezing cold," Glass said. "I thought maybe they were chasing somebody or something."

The National Association of State Boating Law Administrators recently posted a video on Youtube called Cold Water Boot Camp. In the 10 min video, they take several volunteers in very cold water under close supervision and let them experience the 3 effects of cold water immersion - cold shock, cold incapacitation and hypothermia.

Who is the luckiest man alive today? The driver the school bus in the photo below. He only sustained minor injuries when he was able to move out of the way of a flying kayak sailing through his bus front windshield during an accident.

The woman in the SUV who hit the bus head on after crossing the middle line of the road is listed in serious condition and was airlifted to a local hospital. The accident took place yesterday (October 30) in Hossick, New York.