Re: [Paddlewise] wet exits/entrapment

Chuck Sutherland <skimmer_at_mail3.enter.net> wrote:
>It is my policy, wether teaching novices or taking "guests" out for a 
>first paddle, to NEVER allow them to use a spray skirt without first 
>demonstrating command and comfort in executing wet exits first 
>without and then with spray skirts. 

>If conditions are such that we can not initially do such wet exit 
>training but must paddle to work on strokes and rescues--- THEN THE 
>STUDENTS PADDLE without spray skirts. We never break this rule.
>Students always wear PFDs, of course.

I carry a large, old nylon sprayskirt.  If a student doesn't have a
nylon sprayskirt, I'll loan them mine (as opposed to their wearing a
neoprene one that they might have brought).  I haven't seen a nylon
skirt hold a person in their cockpit yet.  They are truly a "spray"
only skirt, and don't hold much better than that.

Neoprene, on the other hand, could pose a serious entrapment hazard,
but they work a lot better for keeping breaking waves, etc. out of the
cockpit (when used by an experienced paddler).

>Demonstrations of wet exits on land are not, in my opinion, ever 
>sufficient to allow students to skip the capsize drills in the water.

Nope, they're not.  Everybody panicks their first time.  Better that
first time be in benign conditions with an instructor present, than
when the $#!t hits the fan.

shawn

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