The Paddler ezine Issue 49 Late Summer 2019 | Page 102
ThePADDLER 102
DAY TWO
After some theoretics in the classroom during the
morning we got back on the water. Day two’s menu;
consisted of the self-rescue. Every kayaker should be
able to perform a swift rescue in the conditions
he/she paddles in. Even a so called bomb-proof can
fail if all the conditions are right (or wrong), and then
it’s up to you to get back in your boat. I still hate the
word ‘bomb-proof-roll’ even if my own last failed
rolling attempt dates back from many years ago. I’m
convinced that one day I will find myself back in the
water after a failed roll, and then I’m well prepared.
That’s also the mindset that we want to create among
the participants. Everybody spent plenty of time in the
water, but we kept things fun and the learning curve
was good. If I was paid with smiles, I would have been
a very rich man!
DAY THREE
Best way to describe that day is a mix between boat
control, with many varying strokes and different
rescues along the way. When paddling around the
small rocky islands we can teach a lot of steering and
manoeuvring strokes. With the rocks close by
everybody got to see how the boat reacts and it
allowed me to give feedback on the spot. We put in
some minor incidents where the whole group aided a
capsized and injured paddler. It brought up both the
tension and the way the group was becoming a team.
‘bomb-proof-roll’
I still hate the word
even if my own last failed rolling attempt
dates back from many years ago
DAY FOUR
Day four was for mixing all the previously learned
techniques! We created unexpected incidents where
we pointed out a few team members to solve a
certain problem. This started with a simple assisted
rescue to a more complicated rescue of an injured
paddler. We were a bit sneaky, from time to time as
we pointed out a volunteer to do some unexpected
things where the team needed to react in a safe and
fast way. For example, we created a totally freaked out
and panicking victim that had lost his boat, and paddle.
It was great to see how the other team members