Re: [Paddlewise] are beginners allowed?

ralph diaz wrote:
> 
> Generally, if you plan a trip for paddlers of x skill level and a number
> show up possessing x minus y skill level, it is best to revamp the
> trip's level to their level.  This is barring some very definite goal or
> destination in mind that is the purpose of the trip.
> 
> For example, if the purpose of the trip is to paddle to some specific
> destination and that is the advertised/announced purpose of the trip and
> you need x skill or endurance to reach it, then you may want to tell the
> x minus y paddlers that this isn't a trip for them.  Maybe some one
> might want to set up an impromptu trip for them of a shorter distance or
> that is less demanding.  But if the purpose is just to go have some fun
> paddling here or there, the whole group could just scale down the
> parameters of the loosely structured trip.
> 
> Of course, that isn't always apparent.  Paddlers can show up who you
> don't know and they may be up to the trip or not up to the trip.  It is
> something you will find out soon enough within the first half mile or
> so. I think that, generally, it is wise to be ready to re-assess the
> trip at about that time, i.e. at the half-mile level or so.

Ralph has dealt well with the realities of "all comers" paddles.  The traps of
offering such group experiences can be very insidious.  In other sports (such
as rock climbing) the participant generally has to have enough skill to **get**
into trouble.  Sea kayaking is not like that.  That's the tough part.  It is
impossible to "quit" a dangerous crossing in the middle.  The risk and demand
for skills remain.

I have a related dilemma to pose:  a guy I sometimes paddle with regularly
wimps out on easy crossings.  He is so paranoid about capsizing he often will
alter the angle he takes across a half-mile channel, just to keep the
chop/swells off his beam.  He's a nice guy, and he is a good paddling companion
in many other respects.  So, I'd really like to get him over his paranoia.  I
have been trying various means to ramp up his comfort level, with only a little
success:  showing him how stable his boat is on short crossings, purposefully
engaging him in small, measured amounts of rough stuff, and a couple "sink or
swim" events (much moaning and wailing).  I have been hounding him to slop
around in some small surf to find the limits of his boat, but he has not done
that yet.  I'd drag him out myself, but he lives a couple hundred miles from
me.

Does anybody have a regime to help here?  The guy has been paddling for five
years plus, so there is a lot of reprogramming to do.  Things are bad enough
that many of his one-time paddling partners will no longer go on trips with
him, even though they like the guy personally.

-- 
Dave Kruger
Astoria, OR

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