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Tuesday evening explore sea kayak, starting 23 May
Hello paddlers! We're looking forward to seeing explore course participants and helping you develop your skills. Coaches aim to be at the club from 6pm to help you choose a boat etc. We aim for everyone to be on the water by 6:30. Try not to be late, but you can post here to let us know about delays, absences etc. Come dressed to get wet from week one.
Let's go paddling!😀
Let's go paddling!😀
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Next week is wobbly week for my group.... edging and support strokes. (Martin has a slightly different schedule, but we'll cover the same underlying syllabus). Let's hope this glorious weather holds and the water stays warm!
🌊🌞🙃
I am so sorry I will miss this week and maybe next. Completely rubbish childcare issues sorry. I am trying to get it sorted for next week.
OK slightly better news this week I have got my sister to childmind but she can't get to mine until 18:15 so I won't get to the club until 18:30. I am coming though! Please start with out me but let me know where you are going and I'll catch you up.
and yes learnt loads this weekend. Lots of edging but didn't get on to support strokes
PS, I'm anticipating everyone will get wet this week, including me. Wobbly week morphs into tippy Tuesday... But those who develop a good low recovery may get to keep their hair dry!
Main answer remains the same... Obviously you need to do something you can make work.
But:
Smaller paddlers may find it hard to 'break the seal' on an upsidedown boat, as Jane said when she joined us.
People fall in in rough water or on eddy lines, where it is easy to get separated from your boat, especially if wind and tide are opposing. It's easier to hold on to a righted boat. And it's easier for another paddler to get a tow on a drifting boat and bring it back if it's righted. Righting the boat involves the paddler, breaking down that victim/rescuer narrative. Also, if someone goes in in a gully where there's swell, you'll want them out before the next big set. You may need to use a toggle tow that gets them and the boat back into more manageable water fast. For that, you need the boat righted. Or you may just choose to get someone back in quickly and empty out later. For all those reasons, it's probably best to get the swimmer to turn over their boat. And if they've done that it's usually going to be easiest just to pull it up for emptying that way up.
Next week, more on towing, including contact tows, more on tippy stuff, and therefore quite possibly more on rescuing...or assisting a re-entry as we should think of it!
Thanks Maggie really like the discusion as it means I am thinking about why we do things a certain way which will mean I understand it better and can answer questions when I teach it!
Sorry to pitch in as not paddled on a Tuesday evening but an experience that I had a lot of years ago may be useful. I learnt to empty the boat and get somebody back into it as you will not doubt be learning. Did 4 star training and felt very confident. Then we had a challenging trip around Berry Head which went wrong and I learnt a lot that day. Too much for here. BUT, there really wasn't any point in trying to empty a kayak in rough water as it was going to be filled again as the swimmer got back in the boat - I wasted time trying. The key was to get them back in the boat and start to paddle for a safer place to sort out the problem. Paddling a swamped sea kayak is a different experience, and might be worth trying.
Sorry - I didn't mean to suggest not to keep emptying the kayak before getting in - I have been rescued at Teignmouth between waves due to well practiced routine
Comment Removed
For clarity, subsequent comments are not referring to Nigel's comment.
I do have a knack for finding contentious issues! Any how I won't be there Tuesday but will be there the next week.
Also, I am enjoying Explore course (thanks Maggie!) and realise there is a lot to learn!
For everyone else: This week we are doing more manoeuvring, including contact tows, and possibly tow lines. There will be more practice on brace strokes and rescues, and we will extend some of the skills covered last week.
There will also be a chat, at the beginning, with the other group, to cover some of the things that are best said on land.
Next week is likely to be more of a journey, for those that want it, jointly with Martin's group, and possibly at two speeds. But it will also be a chance to raise questions and catch up on anything missed. We will still start at the club.
Ceri, we can cover the 'chat' stuff on the water next week.