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Kayaker who shuns lifejacket, ends up needing lifejacket

Kayaking can be a great way to experience the Great Lakes.
Flickr user Davichi
Kayaking can be a great way to experience the Great Lakes.

Sometimes getting caught can be a good thing.

A kayaker on the Manistee River in the northwestern Lower Peninsula recently was stopped by officers who were checking canoes and kayaks for safety equipment. The Department of Natural Resourcessays a man was adamant that he didn't need a life jacket or any other flotation device.

Just moments later, he flipped his kayak and landed in 51-degree water. Conservation officers Steve Converse and Sam Koscinski pulled him into their patrol boat and took him to shore.   

And after they warmed him up, they wrote the kayaker a ticket for no personal flotation device.

Here are some kayak safety tips from the Chicago Area Sea Kayakers Association.

Kyle Norris is from Michigan and spent ten years as a host and reporter with Michigan Radio, the state’s largest NPR-affiliate. He lives in Seattle and works as a substitute host and producer at KNKX.
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