Doug Lloyd wrote: > Thank you for all the good advice that came in with suggestions regarding > larger individuals having difficulty getting back in their kayaks. To > clarify, the ladies involved are not the type to desire to learn to roll or > do a reverse wet exit (re entry and roll). We are trying to teach good > bracing skills as a preventative, but feel that as a minimum, they should be > able to get back in with some assistance. Allow me to be the bad guy. I think that if these folks have that much trouble, they perhaps shouldn't be kayaking. I'm responsible for nordic touring and backcountry activities in my ski club and have been in the position several times to tell folks "sorry, you can't go". That, in fact is part of my training. I would so the same thing paddling. There's no reason to put themselves and others at risk if they don't have the skills/strength/endurance to do something as basic as, in paddling, an assisted rescue. Someone suggested that they need more leg strength. A normally fit person has enough leg strength. Similar for arm strength. Their problem sounds like they're just not fit or are too fat. Everyone today thinks they should be able to do anything they want without any special preparation or training. They look at these things in a romantic, dreamy way - "isn't this wonderful/pretty/adventurous..." and want to take part. This isn't the case. It's not a push button world. You aren't instantly able to do something jsut because it sounds like a good idea. The preparation they need is not to learn to paddle but to get into sufficient physical condition to do all the activities required for safe paddling. Mike *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************Received on Wed Jan 27 1999 - 08:40:25 PST
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