Archive for March, 2005

“In pitch dark I go walking in your landscape, broken branches trip me as I speak. .” Radiohead

I’m no expert, but I know what I’m afraid of. .

It’s ok to be afraid. Rational fear keeps us safe. It’s a good thing. I’ve read many articles about fear, but most times they seem to address a sort of second level of fear. The fear that experienced kayakers, climbers, etc., feel when faced with new and unusual situations. But often they seem to go past those initial fears we have when first starting out with a sport like kayaking. I’ve met plenty of recreational kayakers who would like to move on to bigger waters but are held back by fear. Often the fear is directly related to going up-side down in a boat and being trapped. I think many times if you could avoid that whole subject people would move along much faster in the sport. Today I want to talk a bit about that.

One of the first things new students often face in kayaking is the dreaded “Wet Exit”. We’ve all been there. I’ve seen people come into a class with that wet exit just lingering there in their minds. They have had everyday since they signed up for the class to think about being trapped upside-down in a tight kayak. You can almost see the new worry-lines developing under their eyes! Sometimes that new student will start asking about the wet-exit before they even tell you their name. And that’s ok. It’s a rational fear. It’s bloody ok!

I’ve worked with a few folks that were very afraid of water. Really tough people on dry land can suddenly turn to jelly when they think about deep water. The thought of a wet exit is just compounding that fear. For others the fear is not exactly the wet exit but something related to it but less obvious like fear of falling, or lack of control when you can’t touch the bottom. So I try to think about that when I first talk to students who seem apprehensive. Sometimes a wet exit is just not in the cards for the day. For others the way there may start with a spash.

Often in a formal class a new student sits in the grass and goes through the motions of a wet-exit a couple times before they get on the water to try it for real. I’ve watched this closely and come away wondering if it’s always a good idea for everyone. That’s a lot of time to just enhance a students fear. “Ok, close your eyes and imagine your upside down hanging in your boat” does not really seem too encouraging. For those “Where angels fear to tread” types this sounds like a blast, but for the less certain you have just given them another thing to ratchet up their fear.

Ok, so assuming we have the boat fitting properly and not too tight in general the student is most likely going to just fall out of their boat if they flop it over without a skirt. So I like to take advantage of this. I may have a student go through the wet exit on the beach right away, but then I’ll have them get the skirt back off so we can go play a bit. (important tip: Later we will be in the boat and I don’t want the back of the skirt to catch the combing, so I want to just leave it off and avoid the issue)

You see the first thing I want to deal with is that tension. We get into kayaking for enjoyment, but often we can be too immersed in the “learning mind” to remember the fun we’re here trying to have. Especially when our mind has had time to anticipate the class and build up fears of the unknown. So what I want to do is have a splash and play session with the end goal being to just fall out of the boat. This is’nt really my idea, but one I picked up from USK when talking about surf. Getting in and playing first can really tone down the tension. I think it can apply just as much to a wet exit as it does to surf zone. I’ve found this to be a great time. We can just take our boats out into the water a little less than waist high and climb all over it. Try to sit on the back deck and hand paddle, try to climb up on it from the water etc., How about ducking under your boat and coming up the other side? When I started kayaking my boat was my beach toy. In fact it still is. I try to encourage this idea by teaching folks to play with their boat. Hey, this is fun!

Now when we are good and wet, let’s pull the boat back into the beach and climb in. We still don’t need the paddle or the skirt. I’m going to pull the student out until the water is about waist deep and then stand either at bow of the boat or within reach depending on the person. Now I want them to try to fall out of the boat. Just fall right over. Very easily. I may challenge them NOT to get their hair wet. I know someone who can fall out of a kayak and never get a strand of hair wet, so it can be done! This whole falling out of the boat business can be a real eye opener. Sometimes we may spend a good amount of time right here and call it a day, saving the wet-exit until later. The fear of falling over may be THE big issue in of itself or at the least part of the bigger fear. But when dealing with fear of the wet-exit I think this little falling out exercise will tell me how far a student is really ready to go.

NOTE: In truth some people will just tense up and hold themselves in the boat by tightening up their legs in the cockpit. Hopefully if we’ve been playing awhile this is less appt to be an issue, but I’m going to still keep an eye on them. But remember the real point of this exercise is to relax and have fun.

If everything is going well and we’re still laughing it’s time to play the opposite game and try to stay IN the boat. We can talk a bit more about contact points etc., but again we are just addressing fears here so I’m not going to confuse the moment too much. Now is a good time for the nose plugs! Most of the time the student is going to have a hard time staying in. Great! That’s actually demonstrates the point to the irrational mind. There is no better statement against fear a physical demonstration. In working with a friend who had a strong fear of water we actually worked on this maneuver for a few days in a row before she was comfortable. In the end she was just frustrated she could not STAY IN! So now we ask the question, “Are you ready to move on and try the real thing?”

At this point we may move back to the grass to work on the “real” wet exit. Then we can put on our skirt and go back out. However, I still don’t want the skirt attached to the combing. Now we can work though the process of a wet-exit. At this point it’s usually one run without and the next with it on. But I’m still really watching. Putting the skirt on can put that monkey right back on your shoulder. It’s touchy and personal. In the end the student has to make the choice. But if they can do it once, I like to have them do it right away again. Then for fun let’s do it one more time!! Great!

I’m sure a lot of folks would find this to be a long drawn out process and it is certainly not always necessary. But I don’t want to push aside fear either. There are plenty of skilled kayakers with some fear of water. They all had to find their way through it or a way to live with it. As we go out and teach others I want to think that we can recognize this fear in new students without belittling the issue. I want to find ways to address the fear yet keep it light and fun. I know smiles open the mind. I know of all the things you can teach or give to others, helping them over come fear is probably one of the most impactful things you can do. They will take that will them into the rest of life. Beat one fear and the others are on notice! If you can have a part in that what more can you ask for?? Cool!

-dm

Had a nice day out at Lake Columbia yesterday. Even paddling the ugliest lake in the world cannot dampen the excitement of a warm spring day!

I’ve updated my site navigation just a bit to add a “video clips” section. Not sure what I will do with it yet, but stay tuned. For the moment there are just a couple clips from the afore mentioned ugliest lake in the world!

Cheers!

- dm

I was burned out from exhaustion, buried in the hail, Poisoned in the bushes an’ blown out on the trail” – dylan

Finally the world has begun to thaw. Yesterday I took a six mile hike up and over the Baraboo Bluffs at Devil’s Lake State Park. For those of you not familiar with the term “Bluff” it’s basically a vertically challenged mountain. Our mini 1100 ft. mountains are made of a very unique purple quartzite and are studied by folks far and near. Hiking up and over them is a bit more challenging however. Especially when the trails are still covered in about 5 inches of water filled melting snow. Today I followed up with another 4 mile hike. I really despise exercise for the sake of exercise so it’s great to be back outside taking in the world around me. But to be honest, “blown out on the trail” feels about right some days. .

So I have been re-familiarizing myself with the BCU Three Star Test, as this is another summer goal. Yikes. Ok. So I can handle the “signs of hypothermia” type questions. My bigger concern is if Welsh is the mandatory language of BCU paddlers? If so, I’ll just work on mastering “Dydw i ddim yn deall” . and leave it at that. So that would go something like, “Have you heard of Rob Roy MacGregor?. . . .” Dydw i ddim yn deall! I’m not sure if you can answer a question about Rob Roy in Welsh but . . . Anything’s better than saying ahh, that’s that film with that guy from Star Wars right?

By the way, you could probably just quote Wordsworth. . .

Heaven gave Rob Roy a dauntless heart,
And wondrous length and strength of era,
Nor craved he more to quell his foes,
Or keep his friends from harm.

Yet was Rob Roy as wise as brave
Forgive me if the phrase he strong
A poet worthy of Rob Roy
Must scorn a timid song.

Bear witness many a pensive sigh
Of thoughtful herdsman when he strays
Alone upon Loch Veol’s heights,
And by Loch Lomond’s braes!

But would your BCU coach actually ask that question? I’m not sure I’ve read the bit about Rob Roy’s sea kayaking adventures. But one never knows! If you are interested in following along with all the fun sample questions Just click on over to Sea Kayak Georgia. Although I’m poking a bit of fun at it now, in actuality I fear BCU testing. My limited exposure has taught me that I must be at my best to certify. So I have a lot of work to do.

In other kayaking news It sounds like I will have a great trip coming up in May. I will talk more about that when it’s confirmed. Until then check out the Kayak Georgia link, learn more about Rob Roy, oh and just for fun. . . Go shopping for a drogue!

- dm

. . I’ll ride father than I should, harder than I could just to meet you there. . . ” – Beck

Today I was buried in work most of the day but occasionally email from my paddling friends would come in with the frequency of rain drops on the window just before the storm. Finally I broke off around 3pm to soak myself in summer paddling fantasies. So here I am staring at a picture of Leland Harbor (MI) under an impending storm, listening to Beck and thinking of rain, spring, waves, wind, kayaking. . . . Beautiful.

Soon enough many of the “sigs” and “emoticons” will become weathered, tanned smiling faces rising and falling on water just feet away. Fonts will become voices rising over the waves talking about something and nothing without a double space to separate their content. Soon we will all be on the water again. We will again remember why we love the sea. . .

-dm

“Now I’ve been happy lately, thinking about the good things to come” – Cat Stevens

Oddly I don’t plan kayaking days, (as disjointed as this post is you can see I don’t plan them either) at least not within a 30 mile radius. It’s just impulsive. In the summer I’m often working on the computer by 6 am or so and by 1pm I have to get away. So I’m either out on a hiking trail or out on the water. I’ve found those spontaneous paddle days are always the best for my head.

When Mary and I first heard Leon Somme comment in an interview that he and Shawna got along better on the water in that there was no bickering about “car keys” and the like, we could relate to that. However, the fact that you have to plan, organize and pack for the trip means there are a lot of “car key” issues coming up before you actually launch. It often takes us an hour or so on the water to get back in touch with our other selves and find that free easy flow again. Some days I think we would be better off to just toss the car keys in the lake and be done with it!

What got me thinking about planning surprisingly was not the summer. Yes, there is much to plan. Over the weekend I received an Instructor Survey from the West Michigan Symposium and I have to think about what I would like to teach. You can tell it’s my first time ’round with this stuff. I never thought before about what I would “like” to teach. That’s a little more democratic than I’m used to. Usually in standard classes you just pack everything into a half day stew. It will be nice to be able to take a little more time on a subject. Time to be sure you are actually teaching and not just “giving overviews”. Hmmmm, what subjects do I want to teach? That will take some doing. But that’s another story, as Owl said to Pooh on a rather blustery day.

We actually planned a kayaking day at Lake Columbia, our only liquid water play spot this time of year. Spending the first day of spring on the water seemed like a good idea. First it was just us, then another couple then another. Great! Then we had a ton of snow, life conspired and soon it was back down to just us. Then again the tables turned and my oldest son decided to come. When we got to the launch there were other kayakers on the water and in the time it took to unload our gear other paddling friends we hadn’t expected joined us as well. So we were back up to a group again. Pretty darn cool!

We paddled about 50% of the horseshoe lake and rolled back into the rocky launch all feeling a bit out of shape as spring tends to always point out. I took a bit of time to roll and play. (Just for fun I added a sloppy roll video from the day to the gallery. See the bottom of the list) In fact this was the first time I had tried a scramble recovery in full drysuit and winter gear. Well, the first time I was right over the back side. Second time I found I could get up easily but sliding back into the cockpit in my normal way was not happening with all the extra gear. I bailed. Third time I moved more more forward than usual and just plopped it. That worked. Now, how would you approach that in an ocean cockpit? Something to try someday. . .

So I want to get a playboat. Mainly for surf & local rivers but who knows where it will go. . . So I think I’m leaning to either liquidlogic “Hoss” or “Gus”. At the moment the Gus is in first place, but who knows what I’ll think a week from now.

So there’s my hackneyed post. Oh heck, spring is coming and I’m just happy to be getting back out on the water in 40+ degree days. Everything else is CAKE!

-dm

Hi,

Not much to report today other than we are AGAIN being buried in a snowstorm. I updated the February Lake Michigan Ice gallery. John B. was kind enough to send me the pictures he took. So now there are actually pictures of me as well. Wow that roll woke me up! Fun, Fun!!

. . That’s all he said and nothing more. . .

-dm