The thing with starting any sport is that you are doing it to increase you quality of life. So your dreaming of rapids, whales, camping with friends and sunsets. Your not dreaming of drowning or epic battles in huge waves. Safety is of course about really bad things happening to you. So who wants to hear about it with the in-your-face technique that some folks from mountaineering, backcountry skiing, ww kayaking and seakayaking use? Under the criteria of you must know all rescue techniques before you can go have fun, who would want to start kayaking? The technique that I think works best is for the experienced people in an activity to take over a subtle leadership roll. Rather than plunging out for a big crossing, just mention that there is more to see and lots of fun paddling by cruising near shore. With ww kayaking, the group leaders did an initial safety talk, picked a fairly easy route and then added safety technique as we all rested in eddies. It was non-threatening and didn't scare folks away right away. It can be as simple as the leader doing a roll and then just mentioning that it sure is nice to be warm and dry. Every student will be thinking about wetsuits and drytops all the way home. Just my two cents worth. Scot Great stuff seeking new owners in Yahoo! Auctions! http://auctions.yahoo.com *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
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