People don’t read manuals
I agree that at least automakers give customers the opportunity and materials to educate themselves, but based upon the many auto website postings I’ve read, a lot of people don’t read the manual at all. I mean, people ask things like, “How much can my truck tow?” and “Can I use regular grade gas in this car?” and “What is this thing that says 4 Low, 4 High, and 2 High?” and “How do I get this light to shut off?” All that stuff is in owner’s manuals, with a nice index to look it up.
Very sad. You’d think that having a potential instrument of death in one’s hands would provide enough incentive to learn how to operate it properly, but, hey, that would take time and effort!
It doesn’t surprise me in the least that learning a deceptively complex skill (kayaking) has been pooh-poohed by certain sellers so that they can rush newbies into buying something, anything.
Nobody can force customers to learn what they need to. Maybe all that can be regulated is mandatory bulkheads front and rear. At least with those, the boat won’t sink, and can serve as something to hang onto.
Resques for women
I’ve looked back at my old canoeing manuals from aca and the red cross. These ancient books mostly show men doing the resques, so it doesn’t surprise me that women need special techniques that have not really been developed well.
However, I’ve never had trouble getting anyone in the boat with a stirrup no matter how tired or weak they were. So is that the ultimate beginner rec boat resque that should be taught?
myth
I didn’t have trouble over the years with the stirrup either, but over the last two years instructing several hundred people we are now finding that many folks are unable to make it work, the combination of them, and their boats.
There are a number of good ideas here and some more not listed yet. Nothing new under the sun, just ones we have not known or combined into hybrids. I think imo it is a mistake to think there is an ultimate way, and better to realize some folks will not be able no matter what to get themselves or others back in in some circumstances.
more deja vu
Here we go again worrying about how we can “save” other people by fallaciiously believing we can somehow change the behavior of other people.
The solution to this “problem” will be easily solved after we fix the littering “problem” our nation faces.
Once we figure out how to change the behavior of people who really don’t care – and thus solve the littering problem – we could then turn our attentions to, and easily solve, this problem along with the pfd problem, the drinking & driving problem, the jerk problem, &etc.
There will always be windmills to chase in this world, so why can’t we just paddle, be happy, and return to bragging about our boats and how we defied death?
We do have the capacity within
It is good to be reminded we do have the capacity within ourselves to learn these things. It is also good to have compassionate others willing to guide us if we are looking for it that is!
“Inherently, each one of us has the substance within to achieve whatever our goals and dreams define. What is missing from each of us is the training, education, knowledge and insight to utilize what we already have.” — Mark Twain
Your Physics are Not Correct
The lower your weight the easier it is to get in a kayak. Believe it or not woman have better body shapes for kayaking. What is lacking is often the confidence and the drive to get in the boat no matter what. I think what makes men get back in the boat is embarrasment not upper body strength. Besides it’s technique not strength that gets you up and sliding onto the boat.
Been There, No
I am lighter and stronger than most women I have helped at one time or another, and have better boats. That low center of gravity is helpful once the posterior has been lifted over the top of a boat and you have to settle in, but it is counter-productive to trying to get there in the first place. Especially when you have to lift a body over the top of something like a tall quasi-rec boat, with possible short arms and little or no rigging. Based on the photo on the profile, I suspect that you have limited experioence with large numbers of older inland flat water boats and boaters.
I'm not trying to be confrontational here - but it's just not helpful to say that women aren't willing to try as hard as guys and cite some assumed science to prove it must be so.