> What things did my fellow readers find difficult to learn initially? > What things should we absolutely make sure we learn in our lesson? Any > other tips? > Hi Eric, good luck with the class. It took me a long time to get it through my thick head that I need to loosen up a bit, get the feel of the boat, before I blindly plunge off from the the dock or beach. Most of my "surprise" capsizes have happened a few yards from the put-in just by not being loose and at-one with the boat. Being seated at a desk or car seat is not the same as in a kayak! Wiggle your hips a bit when you get in, get a feel for stability, lean the boat a bit from side to side, and get a feel for it. During your intro class you should be shown a low brace and a J- lean and this will give you confidence to know your and your particular boats "point of no-return". You'll need to lean to turn and sweep/scull effectively and you need this confidence to push basic, and more advanced strokes to the limit. I mention this because my "basic strokes" class didn't emphasize this at all. They just put us in boats and said "now you hold the paddle like this...." It doesn't matter whether I've had the boat out in a month, a week, or yesterday, I still need this 3-5 minute settleing in period with my boat before I even think about a forward stroke. This may just be my own thing; I don't know. -Nick *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************Received on Thu May 11 2000 - 18:08:12 PDT
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