[Paddlewise] Kayak Man

6 May 2000

 We couldn't get a sitter for my son for the weekend, and a 15 year old on
his own for a few days is asking for trouble. This spelled good news for me
since it now meant I got to come home each night instead of stay in the
woods with my wife's brownie and my daughter's junior Girl Scout troops. I
had volunteered to be 'on water' safety person for Saturday while the
juniors were taught canoeing. Only six canoes, how hard could it be?

I got there an hour early, about 8:00 and got my kayak ready. I managed to
get the 2 lowest kayaks off the trailer by myself, but had to wait for help
before getting the top four. The canoe instructor and her daughter soon
arrived and we managed to get the remaining four kayaks off with some
difficulty. The canoe instructor slipped and fell off the trailer and was
quite fortunate to walk away with only a scraped and bruised leg.

We were ready, or so I thought. Twenty something fourth graders mean sheer
chaos and within 5 minutes of them arriving I was wondering what I had
gotten talked into. While the instructor gave some semblance of instruction
to the chaotic crowd, I suited up - No dry suit finally, the water on this
pond was well above 60 degrees, so I was in only my Polartec wet suit. A
very hot day, the first thing I did on getting in the water was roll for a
temperature check. How easy that roll was unencumbered by my dry suit. I
found my torso rotation had also returned in full force, and I felt good and
confident. I warmed up with some very strong leaned sweeps since I figured I
would need lots of quick turns to keep up with this crowd.

The girls were soon on the water. They had been given a boundary of a little
island near the center of the pond and I spent considerable time trying to
teach the girls how to head back to within the given perimeter. Occasionally
a canoe got stuck along a far bank and the girls would call for the "kayak
man" to come pull them out. This went on for a good half-hour until the
whistle was blown indicating it was time to come in and let the second half
of the group take a turn.

It was at this point I realized that not a single canoe had any control. Not
one of them could get back to shore. I latched onto the furthest one out
with my tow belt and towed them to within 10 feet of shore and headed out
for the next canoe. When I returned with the second canoe I noticed the
first one, without any piloting skills at all, was now back out another 100
feet from shore. Not willing to make that mistake twice, when I unhitched
the second canoe I gave them a push towards shore to make sure they made it
in. Everyone was calling for the kayak man to come help. I towed four of the
six canoes in (one of them twice) before it was said and done with.

I was now very warm and took a couple of victory rolls while the second half
of the group boarded their canoes. This was the first half-hour of a planned
3 hour shift. I had a feeling I knew why no one else wanted this on water
job. Although the kayak made the ideal craft to round up the canoes,
something had to change if I was to make it through the morning.

The second wave hit the water much like the first. I was more diligent in
keeping them within the boundaries because of the towing factor when their
time was over. As the second half hour came to a close and the whistle blew,
I could see again there was no hope for several of the canoes to make it
back to shore on their own. Out of sheer 'try anything' I had the back
paddler on one canoe stop paddling and just had the front girl paddle. I was
amazed at the progress now towards shore. I quickly sized up several more
canoes and tried to pick the girl that seemed to have the most control, and
had the other one stop paddling. No one in the second half of the group
needed to be towed in., although a few I had to push their bow back around
on track with the front end of my kayak.

This 'shepherding' was GREAT practice for my turning and draw strokes. Very
little compares in real life training as those quick turns, reverse strokes,
and draws needed to avoid collisions or catch up with a wondering canoe
piloted by nine year olds.

The first troop was finished and it took a few more victory rolls to cool
down. I was one-third the way through and felt like I had just finished a
20-mile day trip. The second troop took to the water without pause. A
smaller troop, these girls would spend an entire hour on the water. Much
more time to become familiar with the canoe and also more time to test how
firm the 'kayak man' was allowing that outside boundary to be. I spent a lot
of time making 100 yard dashes to turn one canoe and then the next as they
became bored with their confines and tried to explore more of the pond. When
the hour was over and the whistle blown I followed them in, only
occasionally turning a canoe or paddling beside giving instructions to the
front or rear paddler. As the third troop had not shown up yet, I used the
moment to refill my completely drained hydropack.

The third group followed much the same way as the second and by the lunch
hour I was spent. As I pulled my kayak ashore after the last canoe was
beached, the canoe instructor asked if I would mind coming back after lunch
to watch the cadets. The cadets, she explained, were older and required much
less hand holding, but they were also more likely to intentionally tip the
canoe over to see what would happen. "Oh great", I thought.

After lunch I wondered back to the water and practiced some re-enter and
rolls while waiting for the last group. The canoe instructor arrived to tell
me that because it was so hot, the afternoon physical activities that were
planned were cancelled, and that everyone would instead be given another
shot at canoeing. As the cadets took the water I found some shade out under
some trees on the island and just floated keeping my eye on them as they
explored the entire pond. I would need my strength for the barrage that was
to follow. The cadet shift passed without incident and I could see many
juniors gathering at the shore. There would be no breaks as the six canoes
were filled and sent on their own for 20-30 minutes, then sent back and more
girls loaded up.

That last group included my daughter, who along with her friend who also had
canoe experience gave me the chance to play "splash the canoe" with a tennis
ball, after which we would scramble to recover the ball. It would be 4:30
before the last canoe was off the water and I could beach and put my yak
away, then pack up the canoe gear and canoes. Six and a half hours I had
spent on the water and I felt every minute of it as we loaded the last
canoe.

The experience gained was incredible. Nothing in my practice sessions or day
trips had given me the opportunity to put all the strokes I had learned to
practical use like today. Several times I needed to perform a 'draw on the
move' and other advanced strokes to avoid a collision or pull my kayak
closer to a canoe. I even learned to lay my kayak nearly on its side while
performing a sweep stroke and turn it 180 degrees in two strokes. Not an
easy task with a heavy tracker like the Gulfstream.

Before leaving the campground, I made it known that I would be happy to come
back to do it again. As my little truck strained from pulling the trailer
with the canoes, all I could hear over and over again as I drove towards the
exit was "Thanks kayak man!"

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