HTERVORT_at_aol.com wrote: > > 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. [snip] > I love it!! Your force-rating for rescue skills strikes me as a powerfully > poignant way of expressing an all-too-frequent problem. [snip] > > 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. [snip] > Tom, although it took some time, I'm glad you replied to this old thread. [snip] > 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? [snip] > 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.[snip] > > 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. [snip] > What say you all? What real experiences have you had that tell the > difference? Little, because I avoid group paddles, having had too much exposure to the problems you describe, Harold, when I lead trips in the mountains. [Excuse my snipping of your post -- hope I did not obscure your message.] I think there is a "herd mentality" associated with loosely-organized groups which leads to the problems you describe. This mentality needs to be aggressively resisted if club paddles and the like are to avoid degenerating into "each for his own" when the stuff hits the fan. I am not hopeful that most clubs can effectively combat the problem, because there is a significant minority of paddlers (mostly in the novitiate class) who are content to allow the presence of a herd to lull them into a sense of security: "Oh, it's OK I don't have a paddle float -- somebody else will have one ..." to cite just one statement I have heard before. Harold, I suspect there is no substitute for taking on the responsibility *yourself* for making sure the "pod" functions well. In this case that "yourself" is each one of us. It is easier to be a good pod member, it should be emphasized, if you are prepared for the conditions you meet, and feel confident about your own abilities and knowledge. -- Dave Kruger Astoria, OR *************************************************************************** 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 Tue Mar 30 1999 - 20:06:33 PST
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