Re: [Paddlewise] Judgement

> The problem, I believe, is that very few participants are willing to try
> a self-rescue under those conditions.  I know I have a bunch of friends
> who paddle who have done the self rescue drills in a heated pool, and
> nowhere else.  Any ideas on incentives to get them to do the real thing?

Dave;
My experience is that you will have to organize a clinic and sell it to
your friends.  What I found is that as people do it they begin to see
the need to practice the rescues and the process will begin to gain
momentum.
What I would recommend is for you to, first of all, plan a cold water
rescue session that has adequate control over conditions, that is, no
current, nor wind, and close to shore.  Make certain everyone does
several assisted rescues (perhaps of various types) and and at least a
couple of self rescues (I generally have students empty thier own boat
at least once and I also have them paddle a boat full of water about
fifty yards.
Next find a location where the prevailing winds blow onto an easy sandy
beach.  As people begin to gain confidence and get thier systems down
for rescueing themselves and others in calm water they will, with only a
little more encouragement want to go on to something a bit more
challenging.
As and aside, we have found that, within the club I am most active in
(the Seattle and Tacoma Mountaineers), we tend to get the most response
when we charge for clinics.  Go figure.
If you (or others) are interested in how I specifically stucture either
the beginning rescue clinics or the advanced clinics let me know and
I'll give more details. 
I think you'll find that there are more people in your area who are
interested than you might realize.
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