[Paddlewise] A Serious Question

G'Day,

Frank Malinowski wrote: -
>So whats the prescription? Put back on some weight? Have a few beers? Get
>out and paddle more? Take a rolling class? Skip the rough stuff and stick
>to the bays where I love to paddle & watch the birds?

This post hit home although the possibility of hyperthermia might have been
a good reason to avoid a possible soaking! Isn't California cold this time
of year? Anyway my experience isn't quite the same although I'm 52 and half
of my companions are older. Here's what works for me, plus a comment Paul
Caffyn made last week.

Last year I transferred from a folding kayak (Klepper) to a narrow cockpit
hardshell without a rudder to learn better skills. Now self rescue with the
Klepper is a breeze and its a wonderfully stable and reassuring boat, so
when I got to the hardshell I was incompetent on the water and changed from
a confident paddler into a wimp. It became essential to learn how to roll
and to carry a paddle float and to develop significant paddling skills and
to fit out the boat so that it was safe. Most of which has taken a while to
do. Consequently I paddled with a nervous mindset and the first time I got
into a bit of trouble while being blown towards a reef felt panic for about
10 minutes, which was how long it took to realise that this state of mind
wasn't actually helping and it would be better to paddle using everything
I'ld learn't. A month later through shear carelessness and a poorly fitted
out boat I got into more serious strife. On that occasion I was cool headed
during the incident but drove home in a mild state of shock which lasted
about two days (driving home in this state was very poor judgement on my
part and the following day I was only able to do simple repetitive tasks).
Since then its taken some effort to tackle even moderate novice conditions.
What helped was making sure the boat was properly fitted out and that I had
the skills to handle it for the conditions to be paddled - thats sort of
obvious. But here's the important bit: I'm also spending a fair bit of time
IN the water with the boat and finding safe rough conditions to practise in,
especially following seas. For me confidence and warmth are closely related
so I dress for warmth on the water. Eating properly before a paddle was
another confidence booster as well as being a safety issue - calorific
energy and confidence go together for me. The other thing is being pig
headed and when the intellect says conditions are safe adopt a JUST DO IT
attitude.

Now for Paul Caffyn. Last week we had the chance to meet him and hear his
adventures and experiences. For those who have not come across Paul He's a
New Zealander who paddles around every major island he can find including
Australia. Anway we were in a small town by the sea called Ettalong at an
RSL (retired servicemans club) and the evening had been organised by Wayne
Langmaid of Ocean Planet. The atmosphere was for all the world like the kind
of lantern slide show which we went to as kids. Paul Caffyn and Larry Gray
conjured up images of Greenland and ice falls and catabatic winds showing
slides and films and the audience of about 60 sat entranced for eight hours
(interspersed with beer and juice and muffins). Paul mentioned that now he's
getting older he can only paddle 30 miles a day (after day after day!!). He
later mentioned that if he was off the water for more than a few days he
lost a certain edge and it took a while to get back to his peak level of
skill. He wrote something similar in his book the "Dream Time Voyage". He
also said that a really good way for him to maintain that edge was to paddle
a narrow ski in the surf. So if a man like Paul can experience a loss of
edge by being off the water for a day or two its hardly surprising that at a
much lower level of skill some of us would feel the same when most of the
time we are at work instead of being where we should be on the sea!

All the best, and don't let it beat you!!!

PeterO


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