Yes, newbies sometimes get in trouble because the water is cold or rough, but those are the minority. There are more kayakers (you wouldn't call them that, but the label works well enough for me) in this town than you can shake a stick at. I usually see half-a-dozen kayaks on top of cars just during my 20-minute drive to or from work, and am likely to see about three of them when driving 5 minutes to the grocery store. The local lakes are full of them on any sunny summer day at those times when most people are not working. However, one of my quirky loves is rowing when it's very windy and the water is rough. Wanna guess how many of these kayakers are on the water at those times? In about nine years of doing that fairly regularly, the grand total is ONE, and he sure didn't paddle like a newbie. If you include days that are only mildly rough, the total number of kayakers I've seen on the water is still just ONE. Newbies are not seeking out dangerous conditions, and from what I can tell, neither are the local experts. It's fairly common to see newbie kayakers on the water in early spring without immersion wear, but if one of them has ever had an accident on the water, I didn't hear about it, which isn't surprising since you only see them out there when the water is calm. Also, it's not like they are all that far from shore most of the time. I don't deny that there can be danger on the water and that newbies are not so likely to understand it, but I just don't see this as the huge problem that you make it out to be. I can pick up the newspaper on almost any given day and read about somebody getting hurt or killed in some kind of accident, but I just don't remember such a story locally involving paddlers, and we've sure got a bunch of them here.
framing the picture So far the pro-instruction argument has been framed from a technique and safety standpoint. These are valid concerns, albeit boring and stodgy from a beginning rec paddler’s standpoint. They simply want to get on the water and have fun.
So if the argument for learning skills is framed in terms of having more fun, then everyone wins. The more you learn, the more fun you have.
"The gear makes the paddler" Didntcha know that already?!
I’m only partly joking.
Last weekend a very, errr, fluffy woman hailed me as I paddled back to the beach and said she was interested in trying kayaking. Cool, but then she asked me if kayaks were expensive. I said they’re like bikes; you can get them ranging from cheap to expensive. She pointed at mine and said, “Is that one expensive?” I said yes, to which she instantly cried, “Then that’s the kind I want to try!” I entirely avoided discussing the fact that there’s no way she could have fit in my kayak. Not even remotely. Instead, I pointed to the array of rentals on the beach. I suggested she try those, not because they were cheaper, but because they’d be easier for someone to start off with. And then I hurriedly left the beach!
Here’s the big thing I don’t get: People who do have decent gear, and adequate time to get in shape but only paddle a few times a year and think that’s enough to prepare them for multiday trips. I can’t ever recall seeing that attitude among cyclists. It is a given that you have to do some sort of training even if you’re not racing or touring with heavy panniers.
"You look like you're enjoying that kayak on a nice, calm pond. Did you ever imagine what it might be like to get out on the open sea, or kayak or canoe in whitewater? Think of the things you could see! Anyone can do it provided they have the right training, experience and equipment."
This is what moved me from rec boating to sea kayaking.
What you don’t know… We have evening paddles with very new paddlers, usually in a slower group. The leaders and sweeps in those groups often are people with more skills. On a stinking hot night in August, there is usually a great deal of “practice” going on so that people can cool off. The comments heard evening paddles are very similar to those that I have heard every year when I do demonstrations in a pool at a local sports expo.
Responses from new paddlers -
Why would you capsize to start with. A good paddler always stays upright.
Why slow down with all those turns. A good paddler goes straight very fast.
Why carry all that spare gear. A good paddler won’t need that stuff. (though most do get the spare paddle once it is explained)
Why wear more than shorts and a bathing suit. A good paddler won’t capsize.
Especially the guys, their ego is often hung up in not capsizing and making it to the launch faster than anyone else in the group. And in many paddling environments especially inland, they can get away with that garbage. There isn’t a penalty until they try to cross Lake Champlain in an open cockpit tandem or get out in their rec boat into waves while visiting the ocean. The basic rec or rec/touring kayak is a remarkably forgiving craft in flat water. It can be capsized, but it will resist it through lot of newbie mistakes.
Unless someone has the good luck to be near a WW center where they will be put early on into an environment where capsize is likely (hence the advantage of a roll is very obvious), they usually don’t have what I would regard as a really safe paddling attitude. They just have a ton of paddling assumptions.
I agree with one post above - it is easier if you can make it about having fun. But convincing people to risk a capsize for fun, at least the first time, can be a tough climb. What we have done over the years works on an individual basis. When we spot newer paddlers who seem like they might have potential, we will invite them on along non-club paddles in warmer weather. Somewhere before the lunch break one of us will fall out of our boat and insist that the new paddler put us back in. With one in the water and a couple of people to help, they can talk someone through it. The indication that we have a live one is that they can be convinced to fall out of their own boat somewhere after lunch, with maybe a near shore practice first if they need to be checked on pulling the skirt.
On a one on one basis, we have shown several people a basic self-rescue with very positive results. Once they learn that, the value of getting a good brace to avoid is obvious. Until that point, it was all pretty theoretical and just people talking at them.
I swear the gateway to skills work is getting someone into the water.
A little humility Some people have been on the water for the last 60 years, which predates the era of spending money on paddling lessons. We can’t assume they aren’t real paddlers.
I’ve had two paddling lessons, both in the process of buying a kayak. I learned solo reentry and kayak safety off the internet. There’s quite a bit you can learn by reading and trying.
Clearly there are several levels of the sport. There’s an entry level where people use recreational kayaks and have litte or no technical skill. We just need to accept their right to do that, to enjoy the outdoors at that particular skill level.
I dunno about your theory that people feel instruction is necessary for everything except kayaking. There are a great many things that can be self-taught. Someone had to be the first learner to develop skills in a sport and then to be able to teach them to others.
Take skiing for example. I had a lot of lessons from expert skiers. They didn’t agree on much. In the end my skiing skill developed from lots of experience and tons of reading about the fine points, leading to individual choices about my technique.
But you see, I loved skiing and was very motivated to perfect my skills. There is room for people who just want to have fun on the bunny slope for the rest of their lives. There’s nothing wrong with that.
I dare say kayaking is far less technical than some other sports, including skiing. I’m not sure I can think of kayaking skills that can’t be learned without formal lessons. You can practically get a PhD off YouTube. What paddling technique has not been addressed in one book or another?
You could hand out a thousand friendly tips every day about how people paddle, drive, speak, work, dress, eat, and so on ad infinitum. Your rate of receptiveness would probably be about 10%. It would be much more productive to connect with those people in more positive ways, like commenting on how great it is to be on the water. If that’s not appealing, there’s always MYOB, which would most likely give you more peace of mind and more opportunity to enjoy your paddling experience.
Just two? Do I have the wrong person? I thought that you had indicated work with a couple of folks on forward stroke in a thread a year or so ago. I only mention this because it goes to the general process of people seeking skills.
As seen through the funhouse mirror What continuous string of stories?
The only people who are even remotely aware of those stories are people with a true interest in paddling. Very few casual paddlers will hear about more than a tiny fraction of them.
Very few casual paddlers will ever go someplace where they put themselves at much risk. As one example, look how many thousands (tens of thousands?) of drunken newbie paddlers make their way down the Current River every summer, yet how many of them have died in the process? I really think that the vast majority of newbies simply don’t need to be bothered by people like you.
As another example, 23 people died in boating accidents in Wisconsin last year. Of those, 4 were in kayaks and 1 was in a canoe. That doesn’t seem to represent a continuous string of stories to me, but even comparing the total number to the millions of “boat x persons x days” accumulated by the hundreds of thousands of people boating on a good portion of the state’s 15,000 lakes last year does not seem to paint a picture that will decrease anyone’s interest in boating or paddling.
I think safety advice is fine, but this is just a senseless rant.
Comparison with cycling I’ve heard of many bike tourists using the first days or weeks of a long tour to build up strength and stamina. You start out slow and gradually built up your mileage. I wouldn’t hesitate to go on a bike tour with a starting ability of 10 miles a day. You would quickly be up to 20 and 30 miles a day, which is enough for a nice pleasant tour. 30 quickly progresses to 50.
The same happens with Appalachian Trail thru hikers. Some start off with practically no fitness and they get tough fast.
But this is off topic as it’s about fitness rather than skill.
Paddling I went with a friend once, and loved kayaking immediatly. I researched very extensivly, and when I bought a boat, I read the instructions and went kayking! For me, the written instructions are enough, and good form came naturally.
After the first year, I went online to find videos and other information to refine my technique, and was pleasently surprised to find that I was doing evrything correctly!
I do agree that most begginers, if they intend to do any serious kayaking, to at least ask for help from someone that has been kayaking before, AND knows what they are doing!!!
Not me. I wouldn't meet the OP's standard of an educated paddler. I've been on the water . . . well, a long time, but my main interest is being in the wilderness. My love of kayaking is a different type than the OP's. Safety is a priority, but beyond that, technique takes a back seat to the beauty of the surroundings and the spiritual part of the experience.
Training While I think there is some point to pointing out the importance of training for all aspects of paddling (including basic paddling technique), there is also some recognition that for a lot of (flat water) paddling, there is a low cost/effort entry point for getting on the water. This means that we often have people on the water who have little to no skill or ability to handle difficulties whenever we go out to paddle. Good or bad, that is the reality.
To complain that the entry point to kayaks, canoes, or other paddle craft needs to be higher is, IMO, pointless.
Whitewater and surf are different stories and, perhaps, that is what your diatribe is about, though that isn’t clear. And yes, I think in higher risk paddling, those that receive no instruction are both more likely have a negative experience and less likely to enjoy or pursue the sport.
We need to make the learning process as fun and efficient as we can. Nobody really enjoys seeing folks put themselves in peril because they are ignorant of risks, but unless we change the retail model for the sport, I think we’re stuck with this reality.
I don’t see retailers making much of an effort to suggest someone buying equipment that they need instruction before going out on the water, since that just isn’t a profitable approach. If a class were included in the boat price, this might help improve the skills of those entering the sport. Sadly, I hear that retailers don’t make sufficient profits from selling gear and make a most of their money off classes, so this isn’t going to improve their bottom line at all.
