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Sea Kayaks Techniques Bulletin Board
Re: SanJuan Safety...
Posted By: M. Hamilton In Response To: Re: What I learned in rolling today... (David)
Date: Tuesday, 5 September 2000, at 2:55 p.m.
David, you are correct about the San Juans! You mention the book Deep Trouble by George Gronseth and Matt Broze. George is a good friend and I teach his surf classes for him. There are a lot of hazards up here which is why I'm such a fanatic about being prepared for cold water immersion and learning to be a skilled paddler. This includes soft skills such as navigation, rules of the road, reading the water etc.. I run a water taxi up here and cater to mostly kayakers. The real service is that I can get them safely where they want to be. You would not believe what I see up here with kayakers! Cotton clothes, rented boats, crossing major commercial traffic lanes in the fog, no idea about current etc.. My point is that unless our industry does a better job of preparing people to enjoy sea kayaking more will die, and the Coast Guard will regulate us! When I went through training for my Coast Guard Masters license I was amazed at the bad attitude about kayakers from professional mariners in nautical school!! We are seen as poorly prepared idiots. I would rank most kayak schools I've seen as pretty poor at really preparing people. Though I think the whole BCU gig is classic British behavior, it does establish some sort of skill base. God those guys like their structure and patches. It's all good natured though, and does a lot of good. It is the guys like our friends here that go out and are driven to learn skills that will be safe. Tide rips are great fun! The last I'll say is that I was amused when I visited a site that explained this whole BCU rating system. I keep hearing about it so I explored. What they call a five star is simply a competent West Coast B.C. or Alaska guide.. It was funny to read that few Americans would, or could achieve this, as we simply didn't have the conditions to gain this level. Hey guys, ever been to Cape Scott? Outer coast of the Charlottes? The world record tidal rapids of the inner B.C. Coast? Solander Island? ALASKA!! Perhaps they meant the East Coast. But surely there are tough waters in Maine etc..
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