[Paddlewise] don't paddle, just roll

Just have to get this off my chest...

Last week a new member joined our club, subscribed for a tour on flat water
and asked for a private instruction in rolling. When asked about her
experience, she stated she had been seakayakking for two years. I thought:
OK, an experienced sea kayakker, more then ready for a small trip on a sunny
day, and making a wise decision in wanting to learn to roll.

Wrong. During the trip is was quite obvious she didn't know how to enter and
exit a boat, was not able to paddle a straight course (in a kayett, which is
a fast, well-tracking flat water boat), couldn't turn, brace, steer... And
couldn't keep up with a group, on a leasury paddle of 8 kilometers, paddling
the fastest boat in the group.

I asked her what she meant by "seakayakking" for 2 years. It turned out she
had been paddling playboats in the soupzone, not even in actual surf. I told
her what I call seakayakking and asked her not to misuse that word again,
without succes.

I suggested that she would cancel her rolling lesson, and instead ask for a
beginners course on kayakking. Not an option, in her opinion, since she had
signed up for a one week white-water camping trip in the Alps, this June,
and having a roll was the only skill she had to have to join the trip. I
told her that in my opinion, rolling is a safety measure, not a skill to
rely on in every rapid you encounter. First things to learn, before paddling
white water, is paddling straight, steering, leaning, bracing, entering and
exiting eddies... Basically, I told her that in June she would NOT be ready
to paddle white water.

She looked at me like I was a lover dumping her. I really felt like being a
jerk for ruining her dreams. Another member of the club told her the same
story, also without luck. The girl seems really determined to just learn to
roll, and then roll down the river instead of paddling. She is convinced
that once she can roll in a swimming pool, she can also roll in white water,
while scraping her head along the rocks.

Am I such a jerk? I thought I was trying to save her life. I am not the one
teaching her to roll, but if I was, I would flat out refuse and make an
enemy for life.

Maybe I can't blaim her for being ignorant. Probably the blame is with the
trip leader, that sets very dangerous standards in paddling skills, in my
opinion. It's like putting someone in a car, and telling him "It's no
problem if you can't drive, if you just wear your seatbelt."

Well, I have tried, there is not much more I can do. I can only hope she
will have time to learn what paddling is about. If not, she will probably
get a nomination for a Darwin-award.

Thanks for listening to my frustrations, paddlewisers. 

Niels.
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