John Fereira asked: > How many of you practice "all in" rescues? Our local paddling club, the Chesapeake Paddlers Association, taught two basic rescue/safety classes this past summer, and another class the previous summer. Our weekly 'pirate' gatherings usually involve a little practice as well. The goal hasn't been to teach 'a' rescue, but to teach as many as time permits, allowing the students to see the strong and weak points of each. In the class 2 years ago I taught, we had a woman break a deck fitting that was holding the deck line she was using to secure her paddle. This was the only rescue she knew at the time, and she was fortnuate enough to have this happen in class rather than when she really needed it. 'All in' rescues are taught by CPA. As well as 'Hand of God', 'scoop', 'T', 'X', 'Cleopatra's Needle', 'paddlefloat', 'eskimo bow and paddle rescues', 'stirrup' and different methods of towing. The idea is to teach as many rescues as the student can grasp, and encourage them to practice often. As others have pointed out, knowing only 1 method is limiting your chances. Re-enter and roll can be taught if the student already has a roll. CPA is also discussing the possability of an advanced rescue class, whereas a student that has been through the basic class on flat water and given time to master them, is taken out in more advanced conditions to allow them to practice in rougher water under the watchful eyes of experienced paddlers. This year about 30 people took the CPA rescue/safety classes (pods of six students each), and we used the opportunity to have our future/current trip leaders teach the classes. This course, patterened after the BCU canoe safety class, with wet exit & paddlefloat rescues added, was very popular and we had to turn folks away to keep the instructor/student ratio within reason. I would encourage individuals, clubs, and paddling pals to learn as many rescues as possible, and practice all of them in varying conditions. Just 'knowing how' is not enough. Besides - it's fun! Woody *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************Received on Wed Nov 21 2001 - 15:00:07 PST
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