Wednesday, October 05, 2011

It Is Encouraging:

I am aware of more than a few students in our area who seek out a certified instructor to take them out to work on strokes and/or rough conditions. These are folks who have good basic skills and who, in many instances, have taken formal basic sea kayak instruction. Seems they want to get better at it. I take heart from knowing that amongst the oft publicized stories of "kayakers" needing to be rescued and found to be lacking in skills and equipment that there are those who want to get it right.

In my personal experience with some of these folks (there are 3 active level 4 instructors here in our area,,,one an IT) I have found them to be serious about their sport and most open to suggestions. Not surprisingly, they pick up things quickly and want to immediately get out to try them. Instructing such folks, especially those wanting to go out  on to "big" water, raises my concern about the safety of the instructor.

Personally, I like to see their hanging draw stroke as I feel it can be a life saver when going after the bow of an over turned boat. I like to see it near shore and then in progressively rougher conditions. I watch to see if a picture-perfect hanging draw with good edging becomes a so-so dip of the paddle when waves exceed 3 feet. If it does, we have something to work on before going on the other side of the wall. And, while all this is going on, I assess how relaxed (or not) they remain and whether or not they start having a death grip on the paddle. It doesn't take too long to get a feel for how safe I am going to be out there with them.

I then introduce them to the gap where some of the bad stuff rolls into our anchorage area. I sit and watch as they cross this area parallel to the waves and then re enter it and turn 360 degrees. Doesn't sound like much on paper but, in a 25 knot wind with big stuff rolling in, this exercise can take 30 minutes or more. Depending on how it goes, we may spend the entire lesson in these conditions or, if skills warrant, we head out into it. This is where my concern over my safety comes in.

These lessons can involve an instructor ending up needing a rescue from someone unable to get to their bow in what are new and more challenging conditions. Therefor, before heading out with someone unaccustomed to the big waves, I assess their rescue skills and get a feel for how calm (or not) they are likely to behave when things get hairy out there.


The  payoff is that by time we get off the water I have the joy of seeing their improvement and knowing there is another paddler with whom I can count on out there when the going gets rough. Is this not a great sport?

Paddle safe...
DS

7 comments:

bpfamily said...

Did you really mean to suggest that you would take students into conditions in which you might need to be rescued by them? We agree that it's great to work into progressively more challenging conditions with students, assessing their skills as we go. But a piece of our risk assessment in any environment is our ability to confidently and even unconsciously handle those conditions so we can easily keep our students safe.
Sharon & Alec

Silbs said...

Good catch on my poorly expressed concept. Anything, as you know, can happen in any conditions. When we are in the role of teacher we are, presumably, the person in the group with the most skills. Should something happen to us we should be able to self rescue. But we can get injured out there and, the more gnarly the conditions the more likely we could find ourselves in trouble. In a one on one situation, the other one is a "student" and the one upon whom we would rely for assistance.

Bottom line, we (I) must be aware of that student's skills before taken him/her out into more challenging waters. I take nothing for granted.
Thanks for your thoughtful comment.

Scott said...

I feel confident in arguing that a coach should never rely on one of their students to rescue them. If I am not 100% confident in my ability to self rescue then I am not in the correct environment to be coaching. If I have a competent assistant (not student) then that is a legitimate alternative.

As for the 1 on 1 injury scenario, If I am incapacitated to the point that I cannot execute my own self rescue, then I would almost certainly need to be towed to safety in a rafted tow. If it is just me and my student our likely only real option is 911.

The primary reason that a certified coach must paddle competently at a level above that in which they will be teaching, is that the coach must be in total control of their craft in the environment they are in with a student and is well below their own comfort level.

As I read the L4 skills syllabus, the remit of a L4 instructor is waves to 2 ft and winds up to 15 knots. If a L4 Instructor has a student out in 3 foot seas and 25 knots of wind, I'm pretty sure they would fall in the liability category of "totally screwed" should anything go wrong.

Scott said...

I feel confident in arguing that a coach should never rely on one of their students to rescue them. If I am not 100% confident in my ability to self rescue then I am not in the correct environment to be coaching. If I have a competent assistant (not student) then that is a legitimate alternative.

As for the 1 on 1 injury scenario, If I am incapacitated to the point that I cannot execute my own self rescue, then I would almost certainly need to be towed to safety in a rafted tow. If it is just me and my student our only real option is 911.

The primary reason that a certified coach must paddle competently at a level above that in which they will be teaching, is that the coach must be in total control of their craft in the environment they are in with a student and is well below their own comfort level.

As I read the L4 skills syllabus, the remit of a L4 instructor is waves to 2 ft and winds up to 15 knots. If a L4 Instructor has a student out in 3 foot seas and 25 knots of wind, I'm pretty sure they would fall in the liability category of "totally screwed" should anything go wrong.
-Scott

Silbs said...

Well put, Scott...I agree. Thanks.

Silbs said...

To be clear...I wasn't advocating relying on my student for rescue or getting into situations beyond my capabilities (I am a L4). I was musing over what could happen out of the blue and how those possibilities call for planning and judgment around where and into what we are going to go...especially with students. We all agree, as far as I can see.

Silbs said...

The comments are excellent and many are thought provoking. I don't disagree with any and was only imagining scenarios...most of which should not be allowed to occur.