Re: [Paddlewise] dawdlers

NEWTOT_at_mail.modot.state.mo.us wrote:
> 
> RE: I do have a question for you and other Paddlewisers... in a "group paddle"
> how do you deal with the "dawdlers', especially if it affects the safety of
> the group as a whole?
> 
> I didn't see any replies to this, maybe because there is not a "polite" method
> to reprimand those more interested in conversation than paddling.  Nothing is
> more frustrating than trying to reach shore or sheltered area when conditions
> are worsening, only to be caught waiting for people who are lagging behind due
> to their lack of effort.  [snip]

Can't help with the mulligan stew situation common to "club" paddles -- I don't
do those, but maybe there is some help in my tactic for dealing with *one* slow
partner.

I've had this experience twice in the last year, and with the same individual
(LS).  In LS's case, his "dawdling" is not an act of rebellion or contrariness
-- it is just the pace he feels comfortable with.  LS is the kind of guy who is
set in his ways, but not nasty or defensive about it -- he just does not paddle
with much **effort** -- maybe half what I consider my "cruising" degree of
effort.  Yeah, it is frustrationg, and can lead to more risk than we tolerate.

The underscored word is the aspect I wish to explore, because there is a very
insidious consequence:  the *net* speed a paddler can maintain is a more or
less direct function of the **difference** between the force the paddler exerts
in the forward direction, and the forces of drag and wind resistance exerted on
the paddler-boat system in the reverse direction.

When fighting adverse wind (the most usual problem) or adverse current, this
means my slow buddy can quickly get into a situation where a crossing that is a
half-hour commitment for me might be a **two hour** commitment for him.  That's
a real problem, because he has to work for four times longer than I do!!  And,
if conditions are worsening, his risk is much greater than mine -- and if I
stay with him (got to, no?), my risk is increased, also.

What's my solution?  Well, I really can not change this guy's ways, so:

1. I do not paddle with him much.

2. I only commit myself to helping him across the "crux" of a given paddle trip
-- and spell out my commitment clearly *in advance* of the trip.

Number two means we do not do multi-day trips together, although we have
paddled (each with our own partners -- nobody is soloing) in the same general
area over a several-day timespan, with me "assisting" the guy to a safe spot
from which he can explore at his own pace, and then helping him back over that
spot as we return to our launch point.

OTOH, if I were paddling with someone who was purposefully paddling with low
effort (but who *could* up the pace easily), in the face of threatening
conditions, they would get the full force of my best persuasive talents, and
I'd be damn sure that was the last trip I did with them!

I might mention that LS is very grateful for the time or two I have helped him
over a crux -- in fact he would not be able to explore some cool places without
my help -- and his gratitude is what keeps me in the game.  He is almost a
decade older than I am, and I hope in 10 years there is a kind hearted boomer
baby who will do the same for me!  <g>

-- 
Dave Kruger
Astoria, OR
sometime curmudgeon, sometimes not
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