Archive for the ‘Coaching’ Category

Hang on, help is on its way,
I'll be there as fast as I can,
"Hang on", a tiny voice did say,
From somewhere deep inside the inner man.
- the little river band

So here it is direct from the American Canoe Association to you: “The following proposals were submitted, have been approved and all associated documentation on the website has been updated. . .” (Get ready for it….) “Removal of the Paddle-float Rescue from the Level 1: Introduction to Kayaking Instructor Criteria. This change was requested and approved due to the fact the Level 1: Introduction to Kayaking course is conducted in close proximity to shore where more basic rescue self-rescue techniques can be utilized and the type of paddlecraft that can be used in a Level 1: Introduction to Kayaking / QuickStart or SmartStart Kayaking courses may not be suitable for teaching this rescue.”  Comments?

Well the dawn was coming, / Heard him ringing on my bell.
He said, “my names the teacher, / That is what I call myself.
– tull

Thumbs Up! I say that now because honestly I get really board reading long-winded reviews when all I needed was a gladiatorial thumbs up or thumbs down. So if you’re looking for the Circus Maximus version of my Sea Kayak with Gordon Brown review its, “Thumbs Up”. Gordon Lives!!

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R-E-S-P-E-C-T
Find out what it means to me
R-E-S-P-E-C-T
Take care … TCB
– Otis Redding

I hate nylon kayak skirts.  Oh, I get them.  I understand why we would use them.  When it’s 107F in the shade I’d be tempted to use one myself.  Tempted yes, but the temptation would pass.  I had to rescue a guy in a nylon skirt once.  Well, I should say, he said he had a skirt.  But once I had him sitting back in his kayak on a cold December day when Lake Michigan was feeling a bit b*tchy in the 6-8 ft range, there was nothing like a skirt to be found anywhere around him. But hey, it was nylon and really super comfortable! Of course that’s when the fun really got started…

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We love to laugh / Loud and long and clear
We love to laugh / So ev’rybody can hear
The more you laugh / The more you fill with glee
And the more the glee / The more we’re a merrier we!
- from mary poppins

Yesterday I taught down at Rutabaga in Madison.  I had just a single student.  I’m not sure if it’s the economy or simply the luck of my draw that I’ve taught very small classes at the shop this year.  It’s ok of course.  Having a day with 2 or 3 students or one in this case means you can really spend time working with them in a very personal and useful way.  Yesterday we practically laughed our way through the class both having our own reasons for simply being happy to be alive and in the water on such a warm and magnificent day.

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Tonight Im tangled in my blanket of clouds
Dreaming aloud
Things just wont do without you, matter of fact
Im on your back.
If you walk out on me, Im walking after you
-foo fighters

It sounded simple enough. Just take a few folks on up the Mink river, a marshy, little ,slow flow river that carried water from a swamp a couple miles inland out to the big bay where the Door County symposium was held. Of course when things are too obviously straight forward, that’s about the time that it all goes pear shaped. Or at the very least you find yourself running blindly through tall grass, chasing the melodic laughter of a child whose leading you to your doom..   Read the rest of this entry »

A candy-colored clown they call the sandman
Tiptoes to my room every night
Just to sprinkle stardust and to whisper
Go to sleep. everything is all right.
– Roy Orbison

So then there was the day we took 3 novice paddlers out to see Cave Point near White Fish Dunes State Park in Door County, Wisconsin. It was all going along swimmingly until the waves began to build. Chatting with the students and watching their kayaks rise and fall over the ever steepening waves I began to ask myself, “ Which would be more fun for our charges; trying to round the point and paddling another mile in broaching seas, or turning around right here and making a big surf landing to re-evaluate?”.  Read the rest of this entry »

Behind the guarded walls I used to go
Upon a summer wind theres a certain melody
Takes me back to the place that I know
Down on the beach
– chris rea

There are times when I know I’m much more cautious than most when it comes to taking new paddlers on the water.  I realize too that people will  sometimes follow almost anyone, anywhere.  They trust that the guide is an “expert”.  Besides sometimes it’s hard for a new paddler to distinguish the danger levels between a bass boat on the local lake and a kayak on open water. Many in fact never really grasp the concept of risk in the natural world at all.  Not until they find themselves in deep, deep trouble anyway…

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