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Sea Kayaks Techniques Bulletin Board
Re: Thanks for your comments
Posted By: Shawn Baker In Response To: Thanks for your comments (David)
Date: Wednesday, 21 May 2003, at 12:31 p.m.
As Lee said, what are your goals?
Were the leader/sweep training as junior leaders, or simply students who needed a little more challenge than the rest?
Immersion pro?
If tour boats are a regular feature, do they generally stay on a set course? I assume the ferry does. Should lead have known not to paddle into their course, or did they aim for him?
Have the students debrief themselves; you may find that they are more honest (and possibly brutally honest) to tell themselves things than you might be comfortable saying. Then, you can comment on all the good things they did.
It didn't come through that way in your post, but I believe being a dictator in the "heat of battle" might help. Not that people would like it--not that they should have to. If you were able to contact lead by radio, "get your butt back here to help" might have both clicked him out of his own panic and turned him around to help you out. If he was truly panicked, leaving by himself put him in a position where you couldn't help him either.
Use a "team towing" concept. Rather than suggesting or viewing towing as a method of last resort (which can sometimes be demoralizing, causing the towee to refuse a tow), use towing for "practice". Much earlier on, you could have hooked Hermes to Steve, telling them both you wanted to conserve her shoulder. (which you would...you'd also slow Steve down). Use towing all the time, so when you actually need it, it's not a big "to-do".
See also:
http://www.useakayak.com/team_towing.htmlYou made the correct decision in choosing the ferry.
I think communication suffered early on, which caused you to have to deal with all the lemons.
If "3 students had later stated that they felt anxiety during the crossing," there was vital information you weren't aware of. You needed to check with them more constantly, or if they felt afraid to tell you, chances are, at least one other student may have known of the feelings of the anxious 3. Asking questions like, "do you think the group is doing well on this crossing? Should we bag it and turn back at the halfway point" can get the question you need answered, without putting an individual on the spot.
It doesn't appear as if you put anyone on the spot, but if someone feels on the spot, they'll sooner lie to you than admit a perceived weakness.
: By the way, I will compile all comments and introduce them during our review
: of the incident. So fire away, if we made mistakes here or could have done
: better, please let us know. Safety can always improve.Good for you for the peer review, and great for you for reviewing this with the students. They have tons to learn from this; admitting you've learned a thing or two yourself will make their learning more meaningful and permanent.
shawn
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