On Wed, Jan 28, 2009 at 2:09 PM, Dave Kruger <kdruger_at_pacifier.com> wrote: > > Just for the record, I'm not an advocate of "no training at all for > kayakers." I don't think Craig meant to suggest I was, but the > juxtaposition of his statements and mine may make it appear so. I wasn't trying to suggest that at all. Just thinking out loud. Also for the record, I wonder if Craig is edging toward mandatory training > for kayakers before they get wet? Is that where you are going, Craig, or > are you mainly an advocate for training for those who lead groups for hire? > What about leaders in clubs? Most clubs I know of do require training for > their leaders, but some do not. > I don't see how any "mandatory" training for kayakers is possible given the fact that someone can buy one and toss it into the water. And I'm not sure I'm an advocate for anything, actually. But I'm pretty concerned about the state of affairs we have now where people can rent kayaks at a park right on the Tacoma Narrows and paddle out into 5kt currents with their wives, girlfriends or kids aboard. Simply signing a waiver with no idea of what could befall you seems like a bad idea to me. But I'm also generally in favor of freedom. Both Dave and I (and many others on Paddlewise) could (and did!) do stupid things in our youth and the adults would mostly laugh it off (ok... maybe not the moms). We could ride in the back of pickup trucks and wave merrily at cops. We could take naps on the shelf below the back window of cars. We had no idea what seat belts were. We could ride 650cc motorycles at age 16 with no training other than someone showing us which controls did what. We could walk two miles to elementary school and back and ride bikes clear across town. We not only could walk to school... we *had* to walk to school. And ride our bikes in good weather... sometimes all over town. A lot of freedom has been lost in our culture. I'm not at all sure I want to be part of eliminating even more of it. But I'm also not happy about the way some people seem to do stupid things. So go figure. I don't much like the way the BCU does it but there doesn't seem to be an alternative. Maybe we can come up with something. Craig Jungers Moses Lake, WA *************************************************************************** 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 Jan 28 2009 - 16:41:52 PST
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