Posts Tagged ‘aca’

Say you don’t need no diamond ring and I’ll be satisfied
Tell me that you want the kind of thing that money just can’t buy
I don’t care too much for money, money can’t buy me love
-beatles

I don’t know about you, but I need a vacation.  Thankfully tomorrow morning we’ll be heading back up to Point Beach State Forest on the coast of Lake Michigan for a few days R & R.  Sounds like the weather may be mixed, but hey, if we get some waves out of it I’ll be happy.

The Point Beach event called, “Kayak Week” is hosted by a group of paddlers from the Two Rivers, WI area.  It was this annual gathering of area kayakers that actually brought me into Wisconsin paddling “fold”.   Back then there was an amazing diversity of paddlers who showed up for a variety of local paddling events.   There was always something going on, and someone to paddle with or learn from.  Of course that was back before the days of  liability paranoia that put a choke hold on social kayaking. I hear all the time how these sort of free-wheeling gatherings have fallen victim to the hemorrhoidal area of  lawsuit fears, insurance & sanctioning debates that often burn more energy in a group than actual paddling.

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“Maybe there’s something over there!”  Nope.  The running joke of the weekend was that the most recent 1 footer to go under our hulls must have been at least a “4″.  In the end, for students looking to upgrade their coaching level to an L4 the weekend was pretty much a wash out. As a cruel joke nature provided a beautiful weekend for paddling instead of the nasty one we were all hoping for.   Read the rest of this entry »

The shadows in the park were longer yesterday
and Lady Luck stood still, waiting for the kill.
- tull

ACA Proficiency requirements for L4 open water coastal kayaking instructors call for among other things, 3-5 foot seas, 3-4 foot surf, 15-20 knot winds, & 3-4 knots of current to be in force during at least part of the certification process.  Luckily not all at once.  I know that at the moment as I’m getting ready to update and going to be shooting for the L4 this time around.  Funny bit is that I keep thinking about how these conditions compare from ocean to Great Lake.  Wind is wind of course and current is current.. Waves on the other hand are different.  Read the rest of this entry »

Show me sunset and I won’t forget
That I am one of two planets dancing
I am part of two planets dancing
– bat for lashes

What is important is often confused with what is required. What is required is rarely important at all, other than to those who require it.  What is important is often very different.  Thing is, sometimes you must do what is required in order to be free to do what is important… (yeah, it’s one of those posts…)

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Imagine the coach saying, “In order to achieve the ISKA L5 level you will have to be able to disassemble and reassemble your Lendal 4 peice paddle in under 4.6 seconds”.  Sorry, that was just the first thing that went through my head when I thought of Nigel Dennis announcing a new international sea kayaking certification program.  Yup.  You did read that correctly.  I’ll leave it to other more investigative bloggers to ferret out the details.  For my part I want to begin ghost writing a draft of the new ISKA Coaches handbook…   “While other kayaks may be used, it is well under stood that Sea Kayaking UK kayaks are safer, faster, and better built than all other kayaks…”  There will be a test!..  Oh, and investigative types may want to start here.

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?

It was nice to see Justine again. On Tuesday she flew over from Manchester to Chicago, then hopped in a rental car and drove straight up to Wausau for the Open Boat Nationals that begin tomorrow. On the way she stopped in at the house for a quick chat.  My hope is that we’ll get a chance for another quick chat when I get over to the UK in September.  It’s a very weird thing how we make friends at such distances, stay in touch by email, blog and twitter and then only stand in the same room once or twice a year.  Speaking of distant friends, I’m twisting one distant friends arm to come and paddle a bit of the west coast of Scotland with me. Lord knows he’s done it enough.. Someone’s got to keep the silly mid-westerner safe in those tides!