At 03:52 PM 4/5/02 -0800, Shawn Baker wrote: >Hi Kirby, > >I have a few comments, but a lot more questions!! > >Are you a club member, or just a guest for this trip? > >Kirby Stevens <stevens_at_islandnet.com> wrote: >>Once I got home I questioned the club instructor, he mentioned that >>there shouldn't be groups that large and trip leaders are not >essential >>for situations like that. > >What is the club instructor's role? Was that just their opinion, or do >they have an "official" capacity to help organize trips? > >Probably no, there shouldn't be groups that large, but if nobody is >really organizing things, who is going to tell people the group is too >large? I probably don't have as much experience paddling with large groups but my general impression has been that once a group becomes larger than 3-4 paddlers it becomes more of a social event than a just a paddle trip. > >The larger the group, the more essential a trip leader!! > >In our club (which still has a looong way to go in the safety >department), we have a trip coordinator, who helps line up trip leaders >for each trip. The trip leader is expected to know the route, having >scouted or taken it before. The trip leader is also responsible for >carrying extra group safety gear, and herding the cats while on the >water. One thing that I could see helping is for the club instructor to write up a basic "trip guidelines" flyer that should accompany every group trip. If everyone was reminded that "everyone must wear a PFD" and "everyone in the group should stay together" and "a trip leader, lead and sweep paddlers should be designated". From the incident described it sounded like most of the paddlers were not even aware of the most basic "rules" for paddling in a group. >One thing you mentioned really struck me, though. The bit about your >lagging behind, but nobody checked on you because "you can look after >yourself". I'm a very self-sufficient paddler, too, and am seen that >way by my club. What if I was on a trip that someone else was leading >and something unforseen happened to me? You definitely don't require >"babysitting", but having someone stay within visual distance is a safe >idea. It sometimes goes even further than that. If you're seen as self-sufficient and likely with more advanced skills, there is even the assumption that you would prefer to be paddling in more challenging conditions rather than with the group. I seem to have already deleted the response about offering yourself for an interview in a paper for paddling accidents but I wanted to comment on it. Even if you can't convince someone from the paper to call you when an accident has occurred there is always the editorials page where you can write a response to the story as reported. Perhaps just doing that and coming across as knowledgable about the sport might prompt someone from the paper to contact you about an incident in the future. *************************************************************************** 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 Sat Apr 06 2002 - 04:58:54 PST
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