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Sea Kayaks Techniques Bulletin Board
in trouble...in sponson trouble
Posted By: tom
Date: Tuesday, 19 December 2000, at 7:55 p.m.
: I don't mind being bashed, because I am here to defend my self. And I try to
: bash only those who are here (perhaps I don't succeed.).: This fellow may or may not be right. (I really don't care.) It is clear that
: people get into deep trouble without sponsons (many are alive only due to
: the kindness of strangers). The question is: Would sponsons reduce the
: number of deaths or the need to rely on the kindness of strangers (not of
: you or me but of those who compose the majority of paddlers - the
: inexperienced)? If the answer is yes then we will all have sponsons or
: something equivalent one day.OK, SO I GOT SUCKED IN
Went to Tim’s www to see what he had to say. A LOT!
He has A LOT TO SAY. Some of it is true but this tends to
get lost in all he has to say and he has A LOT TO SAY.
I wish I was as sure of myself as Tim is. Enough of that.
A few points. I think the sponsons may have some useful
applications. I don’t know what exactly because I have never
used them. However, it does seem to be something I will try.
My primary problem with his view is that he has accepted the
premise that one gets something for nothing. That one can be
a good paddler without practice. He finds much fault with the
idea that one should spend time practicing self and assisted
rescues - including how to roll. He states that if one must practice
rescues so much the rescue(s) must not be very good. That they must have
some built in faults that are very great and so they are not useful.
He makes the argument that the sponson rescue is so easy that
very little practice is needed. In fact many people do it the first time.
To take that to the next logical step would be to say that bow rudders,
low and high braces, edging and leaning, balance, draws, draws
on the move, hanging draws, etc must not be good to use in a kayak
because they all take work to learn and they all need to be practiced
on a regular basis if one is to use them when needed.
I might be wrong but if one does not put in time learning how to
move their boat where they want it to go, how to keep it upright, and
how to stay in it or get back in if it does not stay upright I would
assume they would not be able to do a sponson rescue in rough
water. The conditions he shows on his web site are very mild. He states
that “even a child can do it the first time”. It is my experience, limited as
it is, that if one is not comfortable with the basics most rescues will
not work. Including a sponson rescue. Someone that is not comfortable
with how to use a kayak may in fact be able to do a sponson rescue in
calm seas. Even in very mild spilling waves as shown on his site.
If this same individual goes over in 20 knot plus winds a sponson
rescue will probably not work because they will not have the boat
any more. They will do a poorly executed wet exit and will not stay
in contact with their kayak. It is all part of the something for nothing.
If you use sponsons you can have a rescue procedure that will work with
little or no practice? I think it would be prudent of him to also mention
that people that do not develop, and yes work over and over on basic
skills, will probably not be able to use a sponson rescue in rough
conditions because they will not be able to keep in contact with their kayak.
tom
sorry so wordy just got caught up with tim’s style
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