July 22, 2000

Rescues

I needed to paddle and just relax today. Weird stuff needed to be shed, so Woody's invitation to help him with a skills session at Ft. Belvoir for beginner paddles was just what I needed. He had roped Amigh, with whom we have paddled with fairly regularly, into helping out too. It wasn't all beginners but a nice range who showed up.

One of the women, Barb, whom I had not met before, took the BCU safety class with Woody last month. There was a couple, Jennifer and Derick (am not 100% sure that is his name. I hope he doesn't mind being Derick if it is wrong.) Jennifer had some experience but Derick was new. A Pier 7 paddler, Pam Avery, came, a GT paddler, Victoria, came and she had only bought her boat 3 weeks ago. A fellow I've paddled with a few times, Trevor, brought his wife, another unsure of names here, Ilene, to try out the CLC he just finished making for her. This was only their second time out in it. He took some time at the end to work on his roll in the new, smaller boat.

We did the usual wet exits, paddlefloat reentrys, assisted rescues, strokes, and discussed lots of different ways of doing things. Everyone seemed to get comfortable quickly. It did look a bit like a Current Designs show because we had 2 Slipstreams, a Solstice, and 2 Gulfstreams, along with a Sea Breeze and a Wilderness Systems boats thrown in. Later Trevor and his wife came back from their paddle and threw a couple of CLCs into the fleet.

While we were practicing paddlefloat rescues we watched a familiar looking boat paddle our way with yellow paddle blades flashing. It turned out to be a man in a yellow Gulfstream with a Greenland paddle parked on his rear deck. We didn't know him but his boat fit right in with the other two yellow Gulfies for the brief time he chatted with us before he went on out of the cove.

Derrick did his first wet exits and ended the day with great rescues. Victoria, the GT paddler, never did get to practice her paddlefloat rescue because the deck line on the back deck broke. Woody showed her how to do an assisted rescue. She was quite pleased with being able to do it. It is so much better for the failures to happen in a practice session than when it really counts.

I was a bit taken aback when she was paddling and I asked her if she was using the pegs. She said, no. When I asked her why not she said, "I forgot." She must have some good balance to forget the pegs. I wish had such good balance. I suggested she might get less tired if she used them.

We demoed the bow rescue and the paddle across the hull rescues but no one wanted to try those. We encouraged them all to get comfortable in their boats upside down. I was amused at the skeptical looks we got.

Victoria had to leave early but others paddled off to the creek where Pam and Barb saw a beaver. Woody and I stayed in our little bay. I wanted to work on my roll and he was going to help spot me on a new one.

I was practicing as Trevor was trying to roll, so I wasn't watching him closely. I noticed that he ended up swimming every time so I asked him to let me see what he was doing. I gave him a few tips and he made the next attempt! The grin on his face was so kool. The pleasure he expressed was contagious. That grin must be why Greg is so willing to help anyone who asks. I know that I was pleased that I was able to help him.

Trevor makes the next try but blew the third attempt BUT recovered and made it up! That made me a tad jealous. It took me weeks to be able to recover. Of course, it took me weeks to even manage to roll my own boat. I could roll other boats but not my new one. Just more weirdness of my life.

I wanted to try going over to my right (off side) and going under the boat and somehow coming up on my left (on side). I kind of chickened out because I was having a bit of a bad day rolling. I only came out of the boat twice in maybe 15 attempts but it was a close thing several times. The good thing was that I twice blew it and recovered to make it back up. I had to scull up two or three other times. After a fashion, that is a success because it was only this past Wed. at Pier 7 that I managed my first successful recovery. But my shoulder was beginning to hurt so I figured that a new roll wasn't in the cards that day. I hate ending the session on a bad note.

People loaded up and went to spend the rest of their Saturday. Woody and I had our boats loaded when this guy with a powerboat on a trailer pulls up to the shore to put in. I was unhappy because there has already been rather bad erosion of the beach area this summer. But this guy didn't look like he had any intention of using one of the concrete boat ramps provided for his use.

So, Mom is in the boat, the guy is in the truck, the kid, 7-8 years old girl, is beside the boat trailer as it is being backed into the water. I had my back to them but I heard the little girl callout, Woody jumped and hollered at the guy not to move the tuck. I look around and can only croak and hold my hand out for him not to move an inch. The child had apparently lost her footing in the water and fallen against or maybe under the wheel of the boat trailer. If that guy had moved an inch he would have rolled over her legs! Woody got her out of the water and the guy, rather shaken, takes her to find out if she is hurt or just scared. She was fine but it took quite a while for the adrenaline to calm down in the adults.

Woody is building a lot of good karma for himself these days.

Joan Spinner