Re: [Paddlewise] Group Paddling

In a message dated 3/28/99 6:14:42 AM Pacific Standard Time, Tomckayak_at_aol.com
writes:

<< The measure of a Sea kayaker is not the extreme conditions he/she can
paddle
 in but the rough conditions they can still assist others.
  "Joe Black is a Force 6 paddler but only a Force 3 rescuer"
   At what point are you more concerned with staying up right and getting out
of
 a situation then you are about others?  >>
 
Tom,

I love it!!  Your force-rating for rescue skills strikes me as a powerfully
poignant way of expressing an all-too-frequent problem.  I _will_ find a way
to incorporate it into my instruction -- thank you for such an elegant
teaching tool.

If your partners rated Force 6 paddle skills and Force 3 rescue skills, they
also rated Force 0 pod skills for their demonstrated lack of concern for your
safety and welfare.  I wonder if those individuals would walk off and leave
their friends, mothers and children alone and unsupported in a dark Los
Angeles alley if they could not, or would not keep up?

I would hazard to estimate that most paddlers are at least 2 or 3 Beaufort
numbers lower in pod skills (those skills relating to rescues, group dynamics,
leadership, followership, and other areas needed to qualify as a positive,
contributing addition to a paddling pod) than in their raw paddling skills.
Further, while a large percentage of paddlers might leave their first
introductory SK classes rating a solid F1 or F2 in both areas, the gap between
those skills usually continues to widen as they practice paddling skills every
time they kayak, but rarely (if ever) practice rescues, group dynamics and the
like.  This may apply somewhat less to those who actively participate in club
or group activities where the group is strongly safety-conscious and willing
to tutor the initiate.  And it may apply less in those areas of the world
where people are raised riding Gotham's subways instead of Disney's
Matterhorn, or where kids are routinely warned about the bears, alligators or
pumas in the back yard, but I still expect it is more prevalent than I would
hope.  The incidents in _Deep Trouble_ and other tales of mishap and death
usually involve glaring failures in proper pod protocol.  This fact is telling
us that many don't get the picture, even though only a relative few ever pay
the price.

Tom, although it took some time, I'm glad you replied to this old thread.  I
have been watching to see how much would come of it, and I've been both
surprised and saddened that only about 9 people contributed anything.  I know
that this subject has probably been drummed to death before, but how many
responses do we routinely see about Canadian Ballast and GPS's and other
equipment?  Why not the same interest in safety?  All the GPS and VHF and BFD
equipment in the world may not save you when the ax falls, while one good
partner who stayed by your side could save your life.  

Off-line I've been corresponding lately with a friend in Northern Cal who is
going through the agony of discovering that her paddling group cannot be
depended upon.  Though they say they are committed to the safety of one-
another, they routinely lose contact with individuals, spontaneously split
into smaller groups which leaves less-qualified paddlers grouped together and
unsupported, and make the assumption that someone who has split off has done
so deliberately and couldn't be having any problems.  I see this kind of thing
all the time, and I empathize with all those paddlers out there who have felt
various levels of dread, fear, or just plain loneliness upon realizing they
have been cut lose by their partners, left to paddle or die.  I remember a few
times when I had to deal with the extreme disappointment in my own partners
when they assumed I'd be OK and left me to fend for myself.

The protocols stated in the other posts on this thread are all well known and
valid.  And if they work in your group, then I say "congratulations" but I
also think you either have a very sophisticated and caring group, or a looser
interpretation of what constitutes proper pod behavior than I.  If you are
blessed with such a group, then perhaps the question is:  What about those
times when you find yourself in a new, unsophisticated or uncooperative group?
How do you make all those wonderful protocols work when people don't listen
when you *do* communicate?  when people can't agree on what "keeping together"
means?  when, in spite of all you do, they still insist on doing what they
want to do, regardless of the group welfare?

What say you all?  What real experiences have you had that tell the
difference?

Now leaving my soapbox in So. Cal.,

Harold  :-)

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