On July 3rd, 2009, my friend, Belton Dykes, died while paddling at Stone Mountain lake in metro-Atlanta. As he had done so hundreds of times, he was fitness paddling in the wood sea kayak that he built himself. It was a typically hot, summer day and lake conditions were calm. As with most fitness paddlers and racers, he chose not to wear his life vest.

From the Tradewinds Virgin Islands newspaper:

Written by Jaime Elliott
Saturday, 07 November 2009 16:25

After laying their lives on the line, 13 wounded veterans enjoyed a much-deserved week of fun in the sun on Love City last week.
But this group of men and women — many of whom lost limbs during their tours of duty — didn’t just lounge on the beach every day.

http://paddlesportsportal.com/wavesportnews/2009/02/wave-sport-announces...

Team River Runner trip to the Virgin Islands.

Wounded veterans of the Iraq, Afghanistan and Viet Nam conflicts meet at Cinnamon Bay on St. John in the US Virgin Islands for a kayak adventure paddling to Jost Van Dyke in the British Virgin Islands.

In this video, Team River Runner volunteer Mark Eberhart, demonstrates how to outfit a kayak for an above-the-knee amputee kayaker.

The idea was given to him by a fellow amputee kayaker named Barry Pickett from Ontario, Canada. Click here for a bio on Barry at Otto Bock's website.