Jake,



After countless hours if leading/observing groups of paddlers on the ocean, I've seen a few mishaps unfold (all with happy endings ). Experience has shown that once things begin to go wrong, it has a tendency to snowball. With the kayak, I've always taught, "NEVER let go of the boat" and "NEVER take off the PFD." The way that things seem to go wrong, I would not want to take the risk of having the boat and/or the PFD blow out of reach. (I never allow participants in my groups to even paddle with the PFD unzipped.)