Good Guidelines for Safety while Touring

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kayakerjnj
Posts: 2720
Joined: Tue Apr 18, 2006 12:12 pm
Location: Randolph MA

Good Guidelines for Safety while Touring

Post by kayakerjnj »

Paddle with a big smile, its contagious 8)


Jordan
Joy
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Joined: Mon Jan 19, 2009 11:30 pm
Location: some where USA

Re: Good Guidelines for Safety while Touring

Post by Joy »

Thanks for posting this. I was thinking of doing it but you beat me to the punch!! Or should I say roll!!
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Johnysmoke
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Joined: Tue May 09, 2006 4:55 pm
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Re: Good Guidelines for Safety while Touring

Post by Johnysmoke »

Sounds like an advertisement for the aca coastal kayaking classes more than anything, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. Sometimes a class or two a season with a good instructor, can help your paddling ramp up to a new level, or show you concepts and techniques you weren't even aware of. A good instructor should be able to observe your paddling style, help point out strengths and areas to improve upon, and give you a few new tools and tricks to play with.
If you've developed a comfort zone you never safely challenge, you might have a hard time learning new skills, and increasing competency in dynamic conditions. Time to find a new venue to play in, or a new boat to challenge you, or different folks to paddle with. Regular play sessions in a fun and challenging venue, especially with a competent group to help you back in the boat WHEN you swim, can advance skills, confidence, and competency. LOTS of fun venues on the south shore to push and improve boat handling skills, from currents at Little Harbor in Cohasset to surfing the Spit in Scituate. It doesn't have to be big and bad and scary to improve upon skills, there's always a little edge to nibble upon and get comfortable, before subjecting yourself to the next amount of fun available. Developing a feel and finnesse for how everything works in smaller conditions will carry over when things get a bit bigger. And the skills developed by spending time surfing or playing currents will definitely translate directly to challenging open water conditions.
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