Re: [Paddlewise] Group Paddling

The biggest problem that I have seen in group paddles is a lack of communication
about who belongs to what group and what their responsiblities are to the group.
As for being the " A-hole " of the day I think it is worth commenting that no one
really likes being ordered around by a " leader " on a recreational day paddle.
Self appointed dictators are not likely to have anyone pay the slightest bit of
attention to them during a paddle.  In a large group of paddlers there should be
plenty of people available to help in leadership roles.

When it comes to our club trips we feel very strongly about having trip
organizers, rather than leaders.  We do not offer guide services and people must
take responsibility for their own safety and not rely on a " leader " who will
baby sit them.  That said the more experienced club members do take leadership
roles on trips and the less experienced people as common sense would dictate
usually defer to their judgement.  You can of course come across unreasonable
paddlers who insists on participating in trips that are beyond their skill level
or refuse to paddle responsibly within their group.  We call them solo paddlers!
We tell our trip organizers to send away anyone they are not comfortable with.  To
aviod nasty surprises we require that participants call the trip organizer before
the trip, rather than just show up at the put-in.  If the paddler is not well
known to the trip organizer its time to ask a few questions to avoid problems
later with improper equipment or insufficient skills.

Frank Goodman once gave a short seminar on group paddling where he pointed out
that when paddling in a group of five paddlers or less you don't have to make
concious effort to count them up - you just take them in at a glance and know they
are all there.  When paddling in a group of 10 or more this is not the case, and
adding seas over three feet and only some of the group will be visable at any
given time.  If a big group shows up for an event it is time to start splitting
out into smaller groups.   I have had good luck with dividing up paddlers into
small groups with at least two strong paddlers for say a group of four or five.
If one sets the pace and one acts as the sweep to make sure no one gets left
behind it is pretty easy to keep the group together.  Obivously in high winds
novice paddlers may not have the boat control to keep the desired heading and it
may become necessary assist with towing or even a rafted tow if they really start
to lose their composure.  Paddling in small tight groups lets you watch body
language and talk to other paddlers in your group so you see the warning signs of
paddlers who are exceeding their comfort level before they get out of control.

 I would rather have two intermediate paddlers looking out for three novices than
one " expert " who thinks he can ride herd on a big group of ten or more
paddlers.  I don't care if you are a kayak God, when the shit hits the fan it is
very difficult to keep a group of three novices together and a larger group will
inevitably scatter.  What risks you are willing to take with the weather or trip
difficulty should depend on the stength of the group as a whole and the skills of
the least experienced paddlers, not on the strength of the " leader " or organizer
of the trip.

So how do you assess the skill level of a group of strangers?  That is a tough one
and again Frank had some good suggestions.  He gave the example of making a ten
mile crossing to and island with a group of unknown experience.  If you ask " Who
is up for the crossing " odds are very few will admit that they are not
comfortable with the trip.  It is easy for egos to get in the way or for novices
to assume that it will be Ok because the more experience paddlers will take care
of them.  He ususally justs asks specific questions relating to kayak experience
such as " How many people here sat in a kayak for more than six hours, 10? 20?;
How many have paddled more that 30 miles in a day? How many can roll, both sides?
in surf? etc. etc.

If you do not feel comfortable with the strength of your group the easy out
without bruising egos is for the defacto leader such as Frank to say " I really
don't feel comfortable making the crossing today with this weather forecast
etc."

HTERVORT_at_aol.com wrote:

> Kirby,
>
> I wish it wasn't so, but your experience is far from unique and is not
> confined to any geographical area.  In fact, I'm going to predict that the
> responses to your post will show it to be a universal problem.  And, boy - am
> I eager to hear what good ideas come out of your query.
>
> To be brief, I'll suggest that we should all:  1. Take courses which teach
> good kayaking group-management skills (leadership and followership); 2. Always
> actively support proper pod behavior on all trips we do, no matter how great
> or small; and 3. Be willing to be the "a-hole for a day" (as a friend puts
> it), by acting as leader.
>
> It is truly amazing how people (we all) can act when out on the water,
> particularly during times of stress.  It takes a lot of control to do the
> right thing when conditions start to get ugly and the fight-or-flight
> reactions start to kick in.  The sad and scary part is just how little it
> takes for a person to start functioning as if s/he were the only one on the
> water, even when in the company of dozens of both lesser and greater
> abilities.
>
> What say you all?
>
> Harold
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