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Sea Kayak Trips Bulletin Board
Re: Quadra Island Trip Observations
Posted By: lee In Response To: Quadra Island Trip Observations (Byron Lawrence)
Date: Wednesday, 29 September 1999, at 12:33 p.m.
Byron, good feedback. I hope the owner got it. One of situations that occur in clubs is that folks begin to identify who they like to paddle with and who handles trust and responsibility well. It is most unfortunate that your experience with a "professional" came out as it did. Thank goodness nothing happened.
A friend that has recently jumped into kayaking wholeheartedly said that I and the folks I work with might be over emphasizing the danger/safety issues, but after hearing of your experiences and others I am left with the sense that people have to be responsible for their own safety, ie. did you or the other paddlers know whether a 10 mi. and subsequent 6 and 10 mile paddles were outside of the comfort zone? Or was this something that the guide said was doable? It is dificult to prepare folks completely for something that is totally new. Fit young folks might not know their limits, aging weekend warriors might ignore theirs, But the lack of pre-trip orientation, safety contingency plans is unacceptable.
What is a beginner paddler? I used to call myself a very advanced beginner. Now I find that how people identify themselves really doesn't accurately describe their actual paddling experience. When folks sign up for a basic class from our brochure, it says"..learn wet exit, t-rescue.." But there is still about 1/10 people that say "I didn't know we were going to get wet!, you should have told me, the brochure is vague" Then again there was one person in their 50's that had shoulder surgery 3 mo. before, which she mentioned as she was having dificulty lowering herself into the boat, she didn't mention anything in the medical info form. Or on a college freshmen orientation ,a young woman with carpal tunnel and wrist guards decided on sea kayaking because the other options didn't look good. Or the gentleman in his late 50's that came in a basic 2 course with his wife,he hadn't taken the previous course but since she had (he was a guy! and been around boats) he figured he would have no problem. Totally screwed up the beginning of the class as he realized he was over his head and thankfully bailed.
I remember a few club trips where someone told the trip facillatator that they were familiar paddling in the open bay and knew rescues, as the 10 mi paddle on a strong ebb tide progressed it was evident this person was way out their comfort zone... after being helped back in their boat they were told quite clearly to cut the trip short and go back with some other folks. Other coastal trips involved surf landing/launchings and some facillitators didn't seem to realize the responsibility that came with paddling with people of little experience. I wonder if folks that do that are unconciously trying to set up a hero rescue situation. Scares me.
pardon the rambiling response, hope your next experience is better.
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