In my limited experience with BCU assessment, the assessors are nice folks, but definitely sticklers for the "right" way. Sometimes, the ~stories~ that circulate -- about what's required and how mean the assessors are -- can get out of hand, but the reality is pretty reasonable (again, in my limited experience).
And yes, the material is taught in a one-day class, one of which is often scheduled just before the assessment. But at least for me, a one-day group class is nowhere near enough to master the expected strokes to the level needed. I need to practice on my own, and also to get some more feedback on what I'm doing right and wrong. Of course, those are good things to be doing for any skill you are working on.
“Pride and Ego”??? I’d say that for most people who are committed to the sport enough to do it but don’t, it comes down to:
Money
Time
Suitability of the curriculum to the paddler’s needs.
The order may vary.
I don’t see sacrificing pride and ego as a significant factor, unless by that you actually mean willingness to be crammed into a mold, even if it’s irrelevent to the way you paddle.
How Bad? The BCU coaches I have spent any amount of time paddling or even talking with share an ethic and attitude that, I assume, is part the nature of someone who pursues such training and partly in the nature of the training. There seems to be an engaged observation and concern that is present even in the most casual of situations.
BCU 3* training can be one day, however the coach I am taking the training with does two day.
A Really Good Paddler… that KenC. Power to him for wanting to pursue BCU 5. Since paddling with Ken, I’ve met a bunch of other great paddlers. Many don’t have BCU rating nor have any interest in it. Power to them too 'cause they have the skills (and mindset) to do what they do and inspire the rest of us mere mortal paddlers.
Paddling is about fun and recreation and folks pursue what gives them pleasure. Ultimately, if they do it with the requisite skills and judgement to make it safe, they all “win.”
Well… I paddle whitewater, I paddle sea kayaks, and I paddles surf (both in the great lakes and in the ocean) and I can tell you that the core skills ARE the same. A high brace is a high brace! What is the problem in admitting that? I think you will find that once you actually get into other disiplins of kayaking you will understand.
FYI white water (inland) coaches and paddlers outnumber sea kayakers almost 3 to 1 in the BCU. That means there are way more ww boaters helping to put together the sylibi for the BCU then sea boaters.
Examples The forward sweep in WW is different (spot your target, prerotate your body and stop at your hips). The reverse stroke is different (start at your hips and end at your toes). Edging is reversed for a WW boat. And there are many others. Have a look at Eric Jackson’s “Strokes and Concepts” book or video. Of course this assumes you have a modern WW boat.
All of the skills you have sighted are the same and we could go on and on about this. I think your information is based on the fact that you have not paddled with anyone who is a technical sea kayaker. If you did, you would see that, again, the core skills as they apply to a 3 star are all the same!
As for edging a boat, well, no one can argue that you control a boat the way that boat is designed. Yes, you lean a ww boat to carve into a turn and edge a sea kayak away from the turn. But, in moving water (i.e. a tidal race or tidal stream) you can also lean a sea boat as well. It has more to do with the weight of the paddler in relation to the hull and the motion of the water then it does the hull design. We could have a conversation about hull design but I doubt either one of us have any desire to do that. But all of that has nothing to do with the core skills associated with paddling. Again, a high brace is a high brace. As you get into 4 star (sea, surf, ww) the issues of hull choice, gear, and enviroment become a factor.
And, yes, I have a modern ww boat. I didn’t know you needed one to talk about kayaking. Any other videos you want to recommend?
Practicality (By the way Jed, the Bell Magic would tempt me to try and add a canoe to our fleet. Loved that boat! Luckily for our bank account the basement is full right now so it’ll have to wait until we have a house with a garage.)
A lot of this discussion is, as it should be, about personal responses to formal training and certification. The issue in paddling isn’t about going out on the water, but coming home again. Any approach that assures that’ll happen is good.
But there is a more mundane aspect to this too. Not only does having some kind of a recognized certification make it a lot easier to go out on really cool trips, it should also make it easier to travel to new places and rent a real kayak rather than be stuck in a barge. As this sport explodes in popularity and a lot of boomers enter the fray with the money to get full touring kayaks as starter boats, it is reasonable to expect that a lot of the more informal arrangements which have been available may tighten up.
We are within probably three years of one of us retiring, and the ability to travel somewhere and get into good sized water in a good boat will start to matter.
Question Is it your position that if I went out for a 3* rating in my DragoRossi Fish and did a forward sweep as follows:
“Your body should be fully rotated in the direction of the turn. Your head should be rotated far enough to see your stern. You should keep your body wound up and still during the sweeps. Do not unwind to get more power. The paddle goes in at the toes and comes out at the hip. If you sweep the paddle past the hip you are doing a poor stern draw.”
Yesterday I went out and did some small mileage on flat water and rolled an enjoyed myself lot’s of fun.
OTOH If I were going out to have the joy of doing something big and nasty people being true about a rigourous rating system gives me the a first accomodation of the group’s skill level.
some skiiers take joy in skiing double diamonds and above. Some (like me) find as much joy as they can handle on the blue trails. Some find joy skiing alone, some find joy in company.
Paddling is analagous.
If you want company in even moderately heavy places you need to know the level of your companions. Standardized ratings can help there.
Well, I know here in Newfoundland the Canadian Recreational Canoe Association (CRCA) and has been ‘replacing’ BCU here. Most paddlers in the last couple of years are not even aware of BCU. I know some outfitters ( I have done this from time to time), ask for some sort of proof before giving out a single kayak. Its not uncommon to see this.
In my beginning years, almost every paddler I met was a BCU trained paddler ( or they were self trained). In most recent years, CRCA is becoming the accepted standard in the industry here. There are a handful of BCU instructors on the island, which is great. I hope to work through the BCU stream, on my own time. The CRCA is what governs our ‘rules’ and is the norm practice when hiring guides.
Having said that, I would, personally prefer the BCU stream. Still though, as I proceed through CRCA, I learn it is a very well designed program. Professionally, I will continue with CRCA. Personally, I’ll squeeze in the BCU courses when time and money allow.
The PNW I ran into this “problem” several years ago when I asked to rent a long boat for some west-coast surfing while out visiting family. At the time SteveS owned Alder Creek and his crew was very skittish about renting me a boat for that purpose given my complete lack of experience with PNW water, temps and conditions.
After a 20 min interview, they finally felt comfortable enough that based on my knowing all the right “buzzwords” and given my certifications that I would not likely end up another “east coast paddlers tries the Pacific Northwest and dies” statistic.
This happened some years ago. I can only image that the “problem” will get worse over time in the litigious climate that is US society.
Time For A Tom Yost "Sea Rider!" those are the coolest boats. And I would love one anyway.
Seriously, the outfitters would go broke if they begin to require certifications to rent boats. Think about it, if they rent “barges”, there will simply be those who will get out “over their heads” in barges.
Its very hard to rent a kayak in the UK I’ve made a few trips to the UK and looked into renting boats. In most locations there is no such thing as boat rentals, you have to borrow boats and go out with local clubs. Lots of the local clubs want to know your BCU rating immediately. Surf kayakers are a little more open minded, and flexible.
Pacific NW I had the thought about certs for rental partly because of the experience of a friend, who has extremely deep whitewater background before she ever started into sea kayaks. She was able to rent a Nighthawk boat from a major outfitter, I forget which, in the San Juans. However, in addition to also requiring that she rent the drysuit, she had to spend about two hours proving that she had basic boat handling skills, could execute at least two means of self-rescue and read a chart. That was for a one day rental in one of the more protected areas, so it is reasonable to assume asking for boats to do an island to island tour would be harder or not possible without further evidence of skills.
I think the outfitter was acting properly - there’d be a bit of a reduction in the statistics if everyone was this vigilant.
And, I Would Have No Problems… with that if it were applied to everyone who wants rent a high performance boat.
When I went to go check out the greenland S&G to buy from the builder in Maine a couple of years back, I did exactly that since we were go out to test ride out in Casco Bay on a choppy, windy day. I did lay back and reverse sweep rolls on both sides, balance brace, and then paddled around in the protected area area before heading out into the open bay. I wanted the guy to know and feel comfortable that I can handle the boat before heading out into the more open water. I actually did capsize once coming back in beam winds and chops and rolled back up without any further problem.
Ditto, when I went out to Santa Cruz for the surf contest. Some guy who I had never met before offered me the use of this boat for the surf festival. He watched awhile when I did a couple of rolls in front of him and surfed several waves. He felt comfortable enough and left while I was still out there practicing my wave riding.
I am willing to demonstrate my skills but I have no interest in taking the whole BCU gig.
Not saying everyone has to… and anyone who knows this board should have little reason to doubt your skills! I’m sure anyone who sees you demonstrate them would have no cause for concern.
I don’t advocate certs for their own sake, and it would be a shame if the ability of an outfitter to operate by their best instinct were to be overwhelmed. But I have started to see a new kind of paddler show up in our local group and where we vacation in Maine (less there). These are boomers who for their first boat went out and got a serious expedition boat, expensive carbon paddles, decent clothing - in sum they have none of the signs of someone who is not ready for prime time until they put their paddle in the water. By then it may be too late to get their attention.
My husband and I have had nothing but good interactions with the greats of kayaking, who have been very supportive and astoundingly kind to recent additions like ourselves. But there may be an increase in well-financed newbies who get a lot of boat and not the skills to back it up. With the GPS units, for example, I wonder how many people who rely on the GPS unit also can back that up with dead reckoning if they get caught in fog with dead batteries? I know that we’ve started working on it, and I am still not where I’d like to be.
If this is a trend, I think an outfitter is well justified to hope for something formal if I approach them and ask for a good boat to rent for a week of island hopping.
What I Am Saying Is That… I actually think that “due diligence” on the part of outfitters is not a bad idea. If they want to put me through paces to rent me a boat, I don’t care. If they’re just looking for the cert, well… I would go with TsunamiChuck’s idea of packing his own boat along for paddling when he travels.
What seems to have happened is that he was asked to do some four star stuff on a three star assessment day. This was not counted as part of the test. Jed was not involved with testing on that day but he knows the instructor pretty well.
This pattern concides perfectly with what our friend told me directly and makes sense.
My perception of the uniformity of BCU assessments have moved up a couple of notches as a result of this new perspective,and Jed also helped me with a couple of paddling techniques.
