Re: [Paddlewise] Sponsons Permission/Assistance

I just know I'm going to hate myself for writing this. ;-)

On Wed, Oct 30, 2002 at 01:06:04PM -0500, Kaitlin O'Hara wrote:
> I have composed two summaries, the first you will find at the bottom of this
> document and the second is an excel spreadsheet.

Sorry, but I can't read information in proprietary formats.  It would 
probably be best to save it as HTML and post *that* -- yeah, it'll
be formatted with the horrible mess of MS-HTML, but at least everyone will
be able to read it.

My name is Rich Kulawiec.  Unlike the majority of people on this list,
I'm a whitewater paddler.  I don't consider myself an expert, but I have
been paddling for many years and have competed at the US Slalom National
Championships a couple of times without hurting myself too badly, so I
have at least some minimal expertise.  (On the hand, I've never held
any instructor certifications or anything like that.)  So let me try
to succintly tell you what I think about this from the viewpoint of a
river paddler (because it's not clear what your objective is, and so I
suppose it's open as to whether it includes people paddling on rivers):

	Sponsons are completely useless to whitewater paddlers.

Re-entry into a whitewater kayak can be done: I've practiced it myself
in flatwater and done it for fun on hot days.  But doing a re-entry in
any kind of whitewater is nearly impossible: any rapid violent enough
to flip a kayak in the first place will make it difficult to even stay
with the boat, let alone get control of it, attach sponsons to it, and
then somehow manage to get into it.  I've taken a few accidental swims
in rapids over the years, and just trying to hang onto my boat and
my paddle, while perhaps manuevering a bit to avoid getting pummeled,
is difficult enough.  Anybody in that situation wasting time, energy
and attention fiddling with sponsons is going to be worse off, not better.
Much, much worse off.  (And attaching them ahead of time would be silly:
it would make the boat difficult to paddle and hard to roll.)

The best safety measures for whitewater paddlers are -- in order:

	1. Experience/judgement.  Use it to know what to run and what to
	walk around.  Use it to pick the best way/safest way.  Use it to
	come up with Plan B in a hurry.  Use it to decide not to paddle
	today at all because you're just not ready.

	2. Training/skill.  Take correct strokes; use river features to
	maximum advantage.  Develop strength, flexibility and endurance
	sufficient for prolonged, violent rapids.  Learn and practice
	a whitewater roll, preferably on both sides, with and without
	a paddle.  Learn and practice self-rescue and other-rescue skills.

	3. Lifejacket.  (needed if #1 and #2 are insufficient)

	4. Helmet.  (protects brain needed for #1 and #2)

	5.  All the other gear -- throw ropes, carabiners, first aid
	kit, etc. that you hope you won't have to use.

Sponsons don't make the list.

---Rsk
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