Re: [Paddlewise] Than looong post about Poor Judgment

Julio MacWilliams wrote:
> 
> So, someone fell victim of anxiety and paddled forward at top
> speed leaving the group behind and capsizing afterwards?
> Then attempted an unsuccessful paddlefloat rescue that drained
> out the last drop of self confidence, and possibly induced mild
> hypothermia due to the long immersion?[snip]  
> Maybe we can exchange some
> thoughts around here about what can be done, if there really is
> any hope, to avoid that classical club trip scenario.
> 
> IMO, the problem #1 of club trips is that there is no leader.
> 
> The second problem is definitely how hard it is to address the
> skill level of a paddler. Asking a paddler to perform a
> paddlefloat rescue says nothing about his/her skill level.
[snip
> A certification program _might_ help, or at least do the
> effect of an aspirin on the trip organizer's head, but there
> are serious problems about it.  [snip]
> 
> Does anyone know the formula for leading club trips without
> going to the scenario described in that looooooong post?

Julio, in your efficient and diplomatic way, you have cut to the heart of
the problem.  Thank you for that.

Club trips, assuming the usual degree of discipline found in clubs in the
USA, are a real headache.  If the nominal trip organizer tosses someone for
low skill level, he/she gets dinged for being a "dictator."  If someone has
a scary experience on a trip, others are only too eager to second-guess the
trip leader's "poor judgement."

My personal solution is never to go on any "club" trips -- not a solution
to the problem, at all.  If I were a club trip leader, I'd be an ***hole
about who could go and who could not.  

My brother, who used to do serious WW in an OC-1 as part of club trips,
seemed to have the right attitude.  He spent countless hours helping others
develop the skills needed to negotiate the WW trips he lead/went on.  His
group seemed to have developed the ethic to guide folks into trips which
wer at their skill level.  Rescue being a somewhat less problematic issue
in WW, he got away with it.

Sea kayaking?  Different ball game.  In a group of paddlers of mixed
skills, the rule is that the group does not attempt stuff which is clearly
beyond the skill level of the weakest paddler.  The corollary is that folks
who consistently exaggerate their skills, or who are a PITA, *do not get
invited back.*

What else can a person do?
-- 
Dave Kruger
Astoria, OR
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