Re: [Paddlewise] BCU Issues/A Question and Answer with Craig and Rob!

At some risk of making the thread boring:

On Tue, Oct 20, 2009 at 7:01 PM, <rcgibbert_at_aol.com> wrote:

>
> Craig: Curmodgeon mode: on
>
> Rob: you bet it is:
>
> Now, now....

>
> Rob: In Paul Newman's words, impersonating Butch Cassidy: "Who ARE those
> guys!"
>

The only game in town... actually.

>
> Rob: Is anybody but us paying attention? I get a few questions about
> *rowing* my kayak from neighbors or folks at the take out, but really, who
> ever heard of the BCU or the ACA for that matter outside the small sport of
> kayaking.
>

I thought we were talking about "us". And we're certainly on the radar
screen of the public; often as a nutty fringe group. It's fertile ground for
an organization to come up with a panoply of standards and set itself up as
the arbiter of skills. Politicians love paper solutions (have I said that
before?) and this one is a doozy.

>
> Rob: I'm not a member of the BCU. I took clinics and assessments from the.
> For the brief time I took a coaching clinic, I became a member. My
> motivation was that as an occasional trip leader for the Washington Kayak
> Club, if someone looked like they'd need some coaching,


But you were a member of BCU... and if you are no longer a member then your
certification as a coach is no longer valid. Will you have to re-certify if
you need that certification?

A clinic that requires an assessment after the fact usually has some weighty
> material and it might take some time to go over. In my experience, 2* was 20
> minutes and a same day gig; 3* was cheap and fast; 4* was a 1 day affair,
> but not particularly expensive; 5* was a 2 day affair and it needed to be.
> You are a professional mariner, you know what the ocean is like, you tell me
> what kayak leadership awards should be on the open ocean.
>

>From what I can see *every* level requires an "assessment" (e.g.: test). You
pay for the clinic to teach you how to pass the test and then you pay for
the test. If you fail the test they tell you what you failed on and then you
retake the clinic and retake the test. Paying, again, for both. I'm not sure
why they can't just certify you within the clinic. Oh, wait... I guess I am
sure, after all.

>
> Rob: Again, I make no continued payments to the BCU and was never required
> to under star or performance tests. To be a coach, yes, but I'm not a coach
> and only while I took a coach clinic did I subscribe to them. Hell, I pay
> the ACA 60 bucks a year for a family membership because my club requires ACA
> insurance for pools, trip participation or trip leadership.
>

You seem to be confused in that I'm stating that all the problems I foresee
are here now. I'm not saying that. But what I am saying is that it won't
take long for the underwriters involved with the business aspect of kayaking
to realize that BCU accreditation is a way to show - on paper at least -
that the operation they are insuring is insurable. This starts with the
"coaches" (instructors). It's not likely to end there.

>
> Rob: Again, you use the word *authority* as if sea kayaking, people
> disappearing behind headlands, the ultimate low viz sport, meant anything to
> anyone but us kayak nerds. C'mon Craig, The president of the BCU has a day
> job. I know this for a fact. This is as low brow as it gets.


Again, you seem to think that what the BCU is today is what it will be
tomorrow. And while kayaking may be "low viz" to the public at large we are
not low viz to the insurance industry nor to the politicians trying to come
up with "solutions" to public safety that will get them re-elected.


> Most kayakers are trying to find ways to make tie down straps because the
> tie down strap kayak mafia has it out for them. *Authority* and kayaking on
> fresh or salt has about as much impact as Tao Berman's underwear photo to
> the world of high fashion.
>

This is exactly why so many kayakers are not in favor of BCU standards. Some
of us just want to paddle and are not interested in passing tests. The BCU
looks like a looming "authority" to us and it makes us uncomfortable.

>
> Rob: and they are so rich, too. Look at them roll out of their Jaguars to
> teach the unwashed.


This is a red herring argument. Schools don't have to be "rich" to make a
living. And if they all have to pony up to become BCU certified clinics (and
yes, I know there is no such thing - yet) they might even make less.


> And who is their competition? I see way more schools of the Otter
> Bar/Zoar/Kayak Academy stripe than I do anything affiliated with the BCU.
> This is no David vs Goliath moment. This is David's pet cat, Rico, vs
> Goliath.
>

The Puget Sound area must have at least 15 businesses engaged in training
paddlers. They are all pretty much in competition with each other, wouldn't
you think? If one or two of them could somehow confince new paddlers that
BCU certification was important enough to pay extra they might be in a
better competitive position that the others. Or maybe, within 5 or 10 years,
they'd all have to be BCU certified just to stay in business. Some of us
worry about this.

>
> Rob: Go ask your State Farm agent, or whoever you insure with what he
> thinks of Nigel's latest boat. Just like that. Let me know what he says.
> They are still barely trying to convey the recent addition to Websters:
> *Euro Paddle.*
>

Go ask George Gronseth how much he has to pay each year for liability
insurance for his business, The Kayak Academy, and whether or not a huge
increase might put him out of the business. Are you sure you're paying
attention here?

>
> Next time you are in Monterey, CA, ask them what you need. Last I checked
> it was a Monterey Bay Kayak certificate. Buy a Feathercraft and skip all the
> rental owner hubris. Or, build a folder based on Tom Yost's designs.
>

Once again... I am not addressing the status quo at the moment. I am
addressing what many of us feel is in the future. I agree that you do not
need anything more than, "oh ya... I can paddle" to rent a kayak. I think
that this is about to change.

Rob: This would be the liberal wing of the American democrat party enforcing
> a solution to a non-problem. Ask Harry Reid what his take is on the latest
> Derek Hutchinson video is. Again, nobody knows what this stuff is. Ask a
> coasty what his preference is, the BCU or ACA.
>

Last I looked the insurance industry was mostly Republican. The BCU is not
on anyone's radar except for those of us engaged in kayaking at the moment.
This could change and seriously affect the way we paddle. Read some of
Paul's and Peter's posts if you don't think that well-meaning people with
political power can change the way you kayak.

>
> Rob: THUMP! (The sound of my head hitting the desk.)
>

Do you really think that once there are standards no one will think to
enforce them? There are areas of Australia where you cannot paddle more than
2nm off the coast right now. If the BCU sets itself up as the arbiter of
standards in kayaking you can bet your bippy some politician will take
notice. Especially if someone who decided to paddle their SOT from Seattle
to Dutch Harbor disappears and their Mom starts a campaign to "make kayaking
safer".  Perhaps you'd need that BCU cert to paddle more than 2nm from shore
off NSW.

>
> Craig: Curmudgeon Mode: Off.
>
> Rob: Thank God!
>

You've displayed your share of curmudgeonry, yourself, you know.  :)

Rob: When government decides to ask their best ally, the UK, to intervene on
> our behalf for small boat handling, you have more things to worry about than
> a flask of tea in your (mandated) day hatch. That last bit was a joke...get
> it?
>

The US government is not asking the BCU to intervene; but the BCU is in here
already. Some of us think that it might not be all that great. And I think
I've put forward enough to make our concerns real not imagined.

Not that none of us think that training is bad. Ten years ago almost no sea
kayakers who had not been w/w kayakers could roll. I think that has changed.
Five years ago most sea kayakers didn't even have drysuits; that, too, has
changed. But training has many forms not just one form and BCU looks like it
would like nothing better than to have just one form.

I'd rather not see that. Can you not see at least a little sense in this
attitude?


Craig Jungers
Moses Lake, WA
www.nwkayaking.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/
***************************************************************************