Overstreet, now you’re an elitest! Remember the guy on the Edisto who showed up in an 8’ something with a heavy paddle and he was wearing jeans? You loaned him some waterproof pants and I loaned him a good paddle. He made the trip, not that he had a choice.
I’d really like to know if he ever paddled again.
It’s time for the traditional spring trip.
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Not specifically remember that guy but a farmer named Richard showed up on a Suwannee river paddle and kept up with the 3.5mph average.
Single incidents don’t erase the overall average. There are more drifters that may have been paddling good conditions for years that’s really don’t have intermediate shill sets. I see them frequently they come by the house out of the calm creek, 4 houses from the boat ramp, see the wind in the open water and turn around. Your intermediate paddlers would continue on most days.
I will post the ratings sheets when I get back to the 'puter.
Ps…do you think a true intermediate would show up wearing jeans for a cool water frosty paddle?
String,
Truth is I don’t know what an “Inetermediate” paddler is. We call 'em “Levels 1-4”.
Here is the skills and trip ratings for two clubs in the local area. Notice that they are dated 2016. They don’t get reviewed much.
Personally I’m just getting old and grumpier. My paddle partner, Author- Itus, is just making things more difficult.
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People advance as far as they care to, per the Conscience Competence learning model
Many people get to the 2nd stage and decide they dont care to learn more, so regardless of how long you have done an activity, you dont necessarily advance.
Im expert at some types of paddling and novice at others, so even within the skillset of paddling, I am an advanced ocean wave reader, but a novice WW reader. To some degree, you can only master what you experience, so where you live determines which skills you can master. That is, if you want to.
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Seen this before and it is a good way to look at things.
For me, the rare instances that I have Unconscious Competence (Right Intuition), it is probably just plain luck. I’d like to think that in most cases I have Conscious Competence (Right Analysis), but not the skills to match. Have to admit, though, that it is usually Conscious Incompetence (Wrong Analysis) that gets me.
About the only thing that I can say for certain is that I am beyond Unconscious Incompetence. I know when I am about to get hammered 
what advances
also regresses
Age is cruel
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I resemble the conscious incompetence concept.
And working to counter the progressive age cruelty.
There once was a paddler from Kuwait
Who thought himself greater than great
As the sea turned wild, he boasted and smiled
All the way to St. Peter’s Gate
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Thanks to everyone that posted these unusual concepts and charts.
When planning a trip, it is the hardest part, assessing the conditions and then the groups level of ability to deal with them.
Difficulty and competence are very relative concepts. Over the years there have been plenty of trips were people have been faced with conditions beyond Level 4. They performed well enough to travel safely under those conditions. But there has never been anyone in our canoe crews or sea kayak crews that has been more than an intermediate., me included.
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Those charts are for the most part valid for a club level and basic self assessment. However, 1) more emphasis should be places on individual skills, and 2) distance is almost worthless for self assessment - having once or twice paddled a distance is not a good measure. Considering those distances as miles an individual paddles per week would make the distance column more valid.
Thanks! I like this.
Question about trip conditions, how many of those categories would you feel needed to change to have it changed to another level?
Like it’s a L2 day paddle but then you get stronger winds and waves pick up.
We had to make charts simple. People have a tendency to not know what they do or could do.
Too late to change the ratings. You are already there.
We don’t worry about those people. Plus if you are planning a trip most would be cancelled if over level 4 before the paddle.
Level 3’s, (Conscious competence) are generally the best teachers. Once you progress to level 4 you ‘forget’ why you do things, or the nuances that you learned along the way to becoming unconsciously competent after a while.
This chart doesnt show it, but some versions of this have level 5 - “reflective competence” or “enlightened competence”. Level 5 essentially combines levels 3 and 4 together, such that you have unconsciously mastered the skill, but are still conscious of why you do those things and can convey that to others.
Think a judo master or something, but with a paddle 
Its dynamic too. I havent been paddling as much lately and recently went out on a huuuuge day. I was thinking about everything at the beginning of the paddle, and sat just inside the harbor break wall until I settled down and stopped thinking about balance, bracing, and waves. Once the movements became reflexive instead of conscious, I felt comfortable to go play with some giants. SO even within a single session, you can move between levels.
Extreme stress tends to push you down a half or a full level temporarily, but can be regained quickly as you regain your wits, at least for me. The farther you are into a level, generally the more stress you an handle before your competence breaks down.
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I do a lot of week long trips planned in advance. Not day trips near home. We often travel to get there. In remote places there has been little met data until recently.
An example would be the BWCA in 1985. We had 4 couples from Denver traveling to Ely, MN and rented our outfits. All were fit and knew something about paddling. The first day we hit Basswood Lake the largest lake in the area. It was blowing 20-25 with higher gusts. Making any progress took a lot of effort. We were in whitecaps the whole time. Level 4.
If possible, never paddle with someone who considers themselves expert. That borders on arrogance in a place where arrogance can kill you.
People who think themselves expert tend to minimize safety.
At one point I could consider myself at the high end of intermediate, my body tells me I am no longer there.
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I used to “think”.
Now I just “paddle”.
But only if the water and conditions are “interesting”.
I develop and practice skills/stamina that match the “conditions” that are “interesting”.
Who “Judges” the level?
I don’t care, except for what I am able to do in the venues that I prefer.
I am usually alone so no one is there to judge me.
Likewise, I have no one to judge.
sing
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Remember the old P-net profiles that used to allow you to self rate as a “Beginner”, “Intermediate” or “Advanced” (or something like that). The best advice usually came from the folks who considered themselves Intermediate, or Beginner (but everyone knew that they weren’t). There were some folks who considered themselves Advanced that really were, and others not so much.