Thank you all for the nice comments to my former posts and as I said in the last one, there were more surprises to share with you, so here I go .... Some times life defy us with lovely and exiting challenges, that show up under in the most unexpected way. Some people believe things happen for a reason and events are somehow related. There's always a reason if we know where to look at. A few weeks ago Corran Adison from Riot was visiting the island to test his brand new white-water kayak design, the TEKNO. I have no affiliation of any kind with Riot and I only mention them as a reference of both leading in techniques and design, pushing the sport to new limits and opening new possibilities. Those interested to see the boat and Corran in action can visit www.2imagine.net , when you'll see some pics of his activities in Maui. Worth a look ! The first concern why I bring a whitewater topic to the list is its new sit and straps design. Going radically against what safety may suggest, their new strap system hold you tight to the sit, hooking like a belt to your lower waist and tights and pulling you down. Take a look at http://www.riotkayaks.com/Riot/detail_tekno.htm for details. It is not hard to imagine that I become the new owner of the kayak and after spending the first day surfing HOOKIPA's 5 footer's and having a lot of fun, while packing my kayak back in my van a woman comes to me commenting how impressed she was about the kayak in the surf. ( Remember this is surfboards-land and kayaks are not frequently seen). But the real surprise came when she asked me if I would like to let it try to her girlfriend, who was a very strong a sportive woman, who always dreamed about surfing, but never could as after an accident years ago she was on a wheel-chair. I was completely shocked because I never expected something like this. But suddenly I looked back at my kayak with this new strap system, and said to myself ... why not ? We tried last weekend. I say we because the challenge is for both of us. I have good experience teaching and consider myself an "unorthodox" (uncertified) instructor, but I have absolutely no experience with people with disabilities. We tried early in the morning with a glassy and transparent sea, without wind nor waves. She is actually very sporty, probably 40 years old, and is very good playing tennis, participating in tournaments either national and international. She can't walk or stand at all, but has some movements of her legs. She has no sensibility from her knees on but seems to have total control both rotating and balancing her hips. I decided that my best approach was to let her see me perform and then try by herself the best she could. Then we could work out the difficulties. As I expected the strap system holds her tightly to the kayak, replacing her legs for support. She showed not difficulties at all on her first steps, and when I let her capsize she didn't panic and found it comfortably funny. We are both very excited with the results so far and feel very positive. The next class will be in a couple of weeks, this time in a swimming pool, and faithful to my beliefs, I'm planning to straight for the roll, so she gains all the confidence she needs to develop the rest of the techniques. We are both aware this is risky business, and even when she knows and understands she won't be able to paddle alone, I think development of new rescue techniques or adaptation of existing ones will be also required. I don't expect her to rely only on a 100 % bombproof roll, even if she is able to achieve it. Ideas, comments, and what's more important, experience will be welcome. You can't complaint ! Three messages in a row .... wow ! It seems that I broke my silence .... Best regards ! Fernando Lopez Arbarello --------- Kayak Argentina --------- http://home.earthlink.net/~kayakargentina kayakargentina_at_earthlink.net *************************************************************************** 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 Fri Apr 05 2002 - 06:15:50 PST
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