I read a letter to the Editor in the San Pedro Sun this week that describes the rescue of a tourist. He was found sitting on the reef, all cut up (the reef is very sharp) and he had capsized his kayak 2 hours prior. The current was too strong for him to swim against and he had tired quickly.

The other day my business partner came to work and said that he had just talked a visitor out of taking a kayak for a paddle. We had a norther blowing.

Who exactly is responsible for cautioning our visitors about the dangers of paddling during different types of weather conditions? Often times the sea off the east coast and inside the reef is lovely and calm to look at when we have a norther - but anybody from here knows that once you get off the coast a little the breeze is stiff and can easily push you over the reef where the sea is anything but calm.

We need to be more responsible and aware of the fact that our visitors don't know about the weather and sea conditions and many are not even active most of the year, then they attempt to go gung ho - snorkeling, hiking, scuba diving, kayaking etc for the brief one or 2 week visit.