[Paddlewise] ACA and Safety

There is something I don't understand about the ACA.  If they are so
concerned about kayaker safety why do they award coastal kayak instructor
certificates without putting the candidates in coastal waters?
John Winskill
----- Original Message -----
From: Robert Woodard <woodardr_at_tidalwave.net>
To: Paddlewise <paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net>
Sent: Monday, October 11, 1999 6:49 PM
Subject: [Paddlewise] FW: [CPAKayaker] Coast Guard National Boating Safety
Advisory Council


> Thought maybe I'd post this here also...
>
> Woody
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-CPAKayaker_at_lists.shire.net
> [mailto:owner-CPAKayaker_at_lists.shire.net] On Behalf Of Robert Woodard
> Sent: Monday, October 11, 1999 5:39 PM
> To: CPAKayaker
> Subject: [CPAKayaker] Coast Guard National Boating Safety Advisory
> Council
>
>
> I was reading though the minutes of the 63rd meeting of the National
Boating
> Safety Advisory Council, and found the text peppered with reference to
Canoe
> and kayaks. I extracted a big chunk of it from the presentation given by
> ACA, but the rest of the report had a lot of concerns about canoe/kayak
> deaths. This makes me wonder how far regulation is away...
>
> Full text can be found at:
>
> http://www.uscgboating.org/nbsac/63min_final.doc
>
>
>
> CANOE AND KAYAK SAFETY ISSUES
>
> Ms. Wing Watson, Director of Safety, Education, and Instruction, American
> Canoe Association indicated that the American Canoe Association was
founded
> in 1880.  It is the largest nonprofit organization that promotes paddle
> sports, representing canoeing, kayaking, coastal kayaking and rafting, and
> currently has 35,000 members in 180 local affiliated clubs and handles
> 300-500 sanctioned events.  She said that the mission of ACA is to promote
> canoeing, kayaking and other paddle sports as safe and enjoyable lifetime
> recreational activities.  She noted that the main theme is education.  At
> this point she showed video on the extreme side of canoeing and kayaking.
> She indicated that more people are trying it, extending their efforts and
> testing their abilities.  She commended the canoe and kayaking industry
for
> keeping up with the trends to try to make the sport as safe as possible.
>
> Mr. Potter asked if there was anything, including peer pressure at the
point
> of sale, to prevent a want-to-be from going out and buying that equipment
> and trying the extreme stuff.
>
> Ms. Watson said that the ACA wants them to have the right equipment, and
> doesn't want to prohibit anyone from getting the any type of boat or
paddle
> or helmet.  The ACA works with manufacturers, and has a licensing program
> where a manufacturer buys memberships in ACA and puts those memberships in
> their boats so they can get people in the loop as one way to attack that.
>
> Ms. Ajootian asked if there were any restrictions at rental places in
> whitewater areas, and if there were any education requirements.
>
> Ms. Watson said that there were no restrictions for renting, and added
that
> not many outfitters rent kayaks.
>
> Continuing the presentation, Ms. Watson said that the departments of ACA
are
> Safety, Education and Instruction; Waterway Access; Law Enforcement; and
> Programs and Special Events. The focus is on safety, education and
> instruction.  There are 3000 instructors nationwide, instructor trainers
and
> certification workshops.  There are also books, brochures and videos.  She
> then discussed the different types of waters they deal with, i.e.,
> quietwater (flatwater), openwater and whitewater, and what ACA does to
> minimize risk.  She discussed the safety concerns for all waters
including,
> how to avoid capsizing; need for PFD wear; and dealing with air and water
> temperature, weather conditions and wind.  For openwater, surf zones and
> tides and currents are also concerns; additionally with coastal kayaking,
> there is a navigation issue. She said that ACA reaches people through
clubs,
> manufacturers and Web sites.
>
> Mr. Marie said that coastal kayakers can't be seen.  He said it is going
to
> become a real issue, and possibly a pole with a flag should be a
> requirement.
>
> Ms. Watson said that they tell their students to give working vessels the
> right of way and also highlight the visibility issue.
> She next discussed whitewater, indicating that there are more hazards to
> deal with, including swimming conditions, strainers, undercuts, lowhead
> dams, holes, entrapments, and pinning.  She said that ACA addresses a lot
of
> the whitewater issues through swiftwater rescue which is key,
unfortunately
> not many people take the courses.  She said that there are about 75
> instructors certified through ACA.   She said that the ACA rescue course
> deals with the equipment they have, and she showed rescue equipment used
in
> the swiftwater course.  She commented that ACA's "Paddler" magazine covers
a
> lot of issues.  At this point she showed "Heads Up," a swiftwater rescue
> video made under a Coast Guard grant to ACA.  She said that one concern
with
> swiftwater rescue is working with firemen and rescue squads due to
different
> philosophies; they have equipment and ACA has knowledge of the river.  She
> said that there is concern with more boaters going on rivers now, there
are
> more people, more accidents.  A study done in 1996 found that 24 million
> were canoeing and kayaking.  They also called outfitters and retail stores
> and found canoes and kayaks sales up by 14 %.
>
> Mr. Blackistone said that this sport is growing and there are no
> requirements for education or flags as for skiers and he had some concerns
> about safety in the sport.  He noted that so much attention has been
focused
> on PWC and power boating.  He said that safety in rental operations and
> mandatory education were issues.
>
> Chairman Muldoon said these were excellent points and he would talk about
> reactivating the Education Subcommittee.
>
> Dr. Campbell said that the profile of the whitewater participant would be
> different from small boat users, and indicated that developing profiles of
> different type of boaters would be of value.
>
> Ms. Watson said that there are a wide variety of profiles in her sport,
and
> developing profiles would be challenging.  One market to target would be
the
> extreme boater to get them to know their limits.
>
> Mr. Potter said that an immediate concern would be mandatory wear of PFDs,
> particularly during cold weather months.
>
> Major Rhinehart asked if there were any statistics that indicate the
> difference between accidents and fatalities that occur in floods as
opposed
> to regular recreation.
>
> Ms. Watson said she had seen some statistics in her organization's river
> safety report, but not a lot on floodwaters.
>
> Chairman Muldoon asked where the increased fatalities are coming from.
>
> Ms. Watson said from both ends of the spectrum, beginners and experts
> pushing their limits.  She said that ACA has developed new courses to
> address this issue, including an advanced whitewater course that teach
> judgment skills.
>
> Ms. Sewell asked where ACA gets its statistics.
>
> Ms. Watson said from people who call in, and that a small network of
people
> input into the statistics.  They need to make more effort, possibly
through
> an ad in "Paddler" magazine to get input on what is happening out there.
>
> Captain Holmes said that ACA member Charles Walbridge, writes a river
> anthology with detailed narratives of accidents.  He said that he has seen
> extreme ends of spectrum in these, and they are not complete numbers.
>
> Major Dill asked if ACA has a position on state registration of canoes.
>
> Ms. Watson said that she needs to find out more about the registration
> process.
>
> Major Rhinehart commented about dangers of rescues in a flood situation
and
> noted that an officer was lost in his state last year.
>
> Ms. Watson offered to provide further information, and said there are a
> variety of committees.  She recommended the ACA Web site
> www.aca-paddler.org.
>
> Chairman Muldoon commented that this is part of boating that is probably
way
> ahead of attempts to try and regulate it, and it needs to be looked at.
>
>
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> CPAKayaker is brought to you by the Chesapeake Paddlers Association,
> furthering the sport of kayaking in the Chesapeake Bay area.  For
> information about membership, please contact Mike Hughes, at
> Mike.Hughes_at_pressroom.com
>
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>
>
>
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