I think it's pretty safe to assume that these dudes are going to be panicky. I think first and foremost, that you have to assert yourself as an authority figure and that you will help them. You don't want to be their friend. You don't want them to question your instructions. You want them to listen to you and do exactly as you tell them. In a very strong, but calm voice tell them that you are there to help them. I would throw something that floats. If they were screaming, "Help, I can't swim!" I wouldn't approach them.. I would, however, probably consider throwing them my towline and heading toward shore. It may take a looong time, but it's got to give the victim more hope than just bobbing aimlessly. If they start hand-over-handing their way toward me, I'll cut them loose. I don't want to be a victim, too. If I asked them if they could swim and they replied that they could, I would offer them the stern of my boat. If someone can swim, and holding my floating object is enough to calm them down to reply that they can, it would be an indication to me that they are getting less panicky. I would feel safe enough to let them onto my boat. Again, like Ralph said, a swimmer is less likely to panic than a non-swimmer. I would just do my best to evaluate whether they had overcome the initial shock of being in the water enough to trust risking my stern grab toggle to save them. If someone holding my stern tries climb up on the deck, or starts pulling their way toward me, I'm going to smack them in the face with my paddle. My own survival instincts are going to take over. I don't want to be a victim, too. Hence my earlier statement about becoming an authority figure in their eyes. If they see that there is no choice but to listen to me, then I can avoid having to smack 'em with the paddle. I don't want to sound unnecessarily cruel, but I don't want to be a victim, too. Do not allow the victim to do anything you don't tell them to. You must maintain that you are still the authority figure. Once you give up the air of authority, you're toast. Shawn -- Shawn W. Baker 0 46°53'N © 2000 ____©/______ 114°06'W ~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^\ ,/ /~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^ baker_at_montana.com 0 http://www.geocities.com/shawnkayak/ *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced/forwarded outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************Received on Thu Aug 17 2000 - 14:40:34 PDT
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.4.0 : Thu Aug 21 2025 - 16:30:30 PDT