June 12, 2004

Professional Instruction

First, I want to tell you that practice is the only way to gain experience. But practicing things wrong can do much more harm than good. Instruction significantly shortens the learning curve, and can ensure you learn correctly. But don't be fooled - you still need to get out and paddle to build those skills!

I've recently had the pleasure of taking training from 2 very professional groups of folks and I'd like to take a few minutes to give my recommendations for those of you that may be looking for some professional training to help you along your way:

Mike Aronoff became a certified white water instructor way back in 1993. In 2000, Mike started Canoe Kayak & Paddle Co. after an already long association with the American Canoe Association. To steal a part of his bio from his web site:

"Mike is an American Canoe Association (ACA) Canoe and Coastal Kayak Instructor Trainer Educator [ITE] and a BCU Sea Coach, canoe and kayak safety instructor. Additionally Mike is the Treasurer of the ACA.... "ACA Middle States Instruction Facilitator " for all ACA instruction and has been named to a second term seat on the ACA National Board. He teaches principally in the Mid-Atlantic; (Virginia, Maryland, Washington D.C. West Virginia and Pennsylvania) is an Adjunct Professor, coastal kayaking at George Mason University; is a super spouse, Dad, friend, Defender of the flag, champion of the weak..."

Besides all that, he's one hell of a kayak instructor and a great guy. If you need a class, go check out his schedule to see if he has something lined up that you need.

The second group is a brand new company - Carpe Diem Kayak Company. I recently renewed my BCU Canoe Safety certification and observed while my daughter took a BCU 3 star class from them (more on these classes later).

Mark Schoon and Mel Rice are the owners/partners of Carpe Diem and well on their way to making a name for themselves as they begin to open shop and offer classes throughout the region. Since their web site is under construction, you can check their 2004 schedule here. You can't go wrong by taking a class from either of these two professionals.

Check out the offerings from Canoe, Kayak and Paddle Co. and Carpe Diem Kayaking Co. and see if they have something that may interest you. And tell them Woody sent you!

BCU Canoe Safety Class

Last year I wanted to go to the Kayak Georgia Symposium, but I couldn't justify going for less than a week. To fill the week out I wanted to take some BCU Coach 2 classes, but I couldn't fulfill the requirement to be certified in BCU Canoe Safety as my certification expired a few months before and I couldn't find anyone local to re-certify me. So when I learned Mike Aronoff and Mark Schoon were in the process of getting certified to teach the course, I vowed to to take the class from the first one offering it.

Mark contacted me a few weeks earlier and let me know he was ready to teach and I trolled for a few more CPA'ers to take the class with me. On Saturday, Peter, David, Anna and myself arrived in Fredericksburg ready to take on the class.

After loading our boats on to a trailer at the Virginia Outdoor Center, we shuttled over to the small quarry to begin our class. As everyone in our class was familiar with rescues already, Mark and Mel had the time to show us some additional rescue techniques as well as some refinements to ones we already knew.

Towing always seems to kick my butt and I learned my current system had several drawbacks. The integrated harness on my pfd was difficult to shed - After opening the buckle the strap continued to hold well enough that I could maintain the tow! Even after pulling the tow harness out of several belt loops it continued to hold on more than I expected. But I hate paddling on flat water with a tow belt, so the system will probably remain unchanged for that venue of paddling, but I will add some other tow system for the nasty stuff.

By the end of the day we were worn out, but everyone in the class passed the assessment!

BCU 3 Star Training

When Mel posted that Carpe Diem was having a 3 star class on the CPA forums, I thought that might be just the ticket to take Katie to the next level.

The day after the Canoe Safety class I got up around 6:00am and Katie was up a little bit later. By 8:00 we were at the Virginia Outdoor Center getting ready for Katie's class.

Mel was teaching a 2 star class, and Mark the 3 star. There was only one student in the 2 star class, and only 2 in the 3 star class. Talk about personalized instruction!

Katie was nervous. I asked her to take the shuttle and let me take my car, but she insisted we ride together so I took the shuttle too.

Once we were at the quarry, everyone got in their boats while I pulled out a chair and a book to keep me busy for the next 9 hours. Mark went off to teach Katie and one other, while Mel paddled off with Greg.

From time to time I would glance out over the quarry to see how Katie was doing. From across the pond it looked like she wasn't edging her solid white boat very much. But when she was pointing directly at or away from me I could see she was putting some effort in to it.

The most significant event I saw while she was on the water was when Mark showed her the hanging draw - a stroke that she had seen me do a thousand times, but not one she had ever tried herself. She looked unsteady for a moment as she stuck her paddle in the water, but quickly recovered. A second later she was sliding sideways more than any kayak I've ever seen! I was impressed!

Another 'proud parent' moment came when Mark was teaching high recovery strokes (high brace). Mark told me later she wasn't tipping over very far and mentioned something to her about it.

Katie: "I'm used to just going all the way to the water"

Mark: "Let me see"

Followed by Katie going all the way down to the water and bracing up :)

At the end of the day Mark made note of the things she needs to work on for her 3 star: Reverse figure of eight, more speed in her rescues, but primarily more torso rotation in all her strokes. Mark said she was very close to being ready, and tackling torso rotation would take her to a much higher level.

I was one very proud pop at the end of the day and I can't wait to let Katie show me all she learned!

Pictures

Woody