I guess not surprisingly sea kayaking is part of this as the imaginatively named Sea Kayaking TV. I found it at YouTube. Here's a link:
I was a little disappointed to see that, at least for now, it's just a bunch of short instructional videos. Sigh. Oh well, maybe they'll do some of that culture and community stuff in the future. I don't know about you, but I have a fairly hard time learning from a video. I do have a few instructional videos. And I've probably picked up a tip or two from them. But without some form of feedback, be it another human or just me feeling the water, I really don't learn very much. But whatever. It's Sea Kayaking TV! It's a start and the cool stuff will be coming! Excited, as I say.
Anyway, what the heck, being I was there I decided I might as well take a look at some of this stuff. Just to sort of get a whiff of the operation. The one I chose was called Re-entering a Sit-Inside Kayak - Part 1. I got to watch an advertisement about something but it had bike polo in it, so that's way cool. And then some guy named, evidently, Ken Whiting came on screen and started talking. Good screen presence I thought. I like his delivery and stuff. I'm not a professional critic or anything BTW.
So I'm watching this video and, not surprisingly, it's pretty basic. It's about getting into your boat after all. But it's saying things like, "...your first job as a swimmer is to keep hold of all of your gear...", which is totally reasonable. It talked about air bags, and some other stuff that I thought was, again, totally reasonable. Which is great because really getting back in your boat is really not a particularly contentious topic is it? Well, at least I thought so. I got to the 1:37 mark in the video and basically started throwing up. Why don't you go take a look. Pay attention at the 1:37 mark especially. Keep your bucket close at hand. Go, I'll wait...
Right, so did you notice anything wrong? I did. How about this. Wrong. It was wrong. Here's one definition of wrong from the web:
incorrect: not correct; not in conformity with fact or truth; "an incorrect calculation"; "the report in the paper is wrong"; "your information is wrong"; "the clock showed the wrong time"; "found themselves on the wrong road"; "based on the wrong assumptions"
Let's review a couple of errors:
"...identify the bow of the upside down kayak...". Wrong. First step, tell the swimmer to flip their boat. This is so all of those handy dandy deck lines and toggles and easy grabby things are there for you to grab.
"...make their way to the bow of the rescuers boat...". Wrong. When in conditions the ends of a boat are the most dangerous places to be. They are relatively pointy and experience the greatest potential for movement as opposed to, say, the area around the cock pit. Which is where the swimmer should be.
"...they should go to the stern of their kayak where they can press down on the back of the boat...". Wrong. See above. Also, if the swimmer loses contact with the boat they are now rather a far way away. Oh, and have you ever actually tried to pull a boat onto your deck to empty it with someone on the back? How about a full boat?
"...the rescuer will hold the bow of the kayak...". Wrong. Because what the video is showing is the rescuer lifting up the bow of the boat. Now don't talk to me about the swimmer is pushing down and all that happy horse shit. First, I defy you to lift the bow of a boat loaded with a weeks provisions. Go ahead, try. Second, why do you want to lift the bow? Why expose yourself to a potential injury in conditions that knocked someone else over? There's a better way.
Really, haven't we gotten past teaching this method by now? It's slow, it's incredibly inefficient and in conditions, where you will most likely need it, it's dangerous. So here's a tip. If you want to take a beginning class, before you sign up, ask what the steps are in a T-Rescue. It doesn't matter that you might not understand the reply. Just understand this. If the person on the other end of the phone/email/text/whatever says, at any point, "and then the swimmer pushes down on the end of the boat", hang up and go seek competent instruction. You'll probably have a better time, you'll be more likely to stay with the sport and I'll be happier.
Push down on the end of the boat. Jesus.
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