i have so many weird bruises
Oct. 26th, 2017 05:02 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ironymaideni took a kayak rescue and recovery class last night (in a pool, anything else would be insane this time of year).
i'm very glad to have done it. it didn't go as well as i would have liked, but i now feel like i could definitely assist someone else, and re-enter with an assist probably 8/10 times. theory pretty well understood, more practice required.
self-rescue? nope. i almost got it once, but capsized while shifting into the cockpit even with the paddle-float as an outrigger. the method they were teaching (which, if i understand correctly is the ACA standard) involves heaving your body perpendicularly across the stern of the kayak far enough that your hips are on the deck. you can't successfully pull over with your arms, you have to kick your legs and flop up like a seal. i guess that's fine if you're a dude, or flat-chested like the instructors. i mostly got caught up on the hatches and rigging badly enough that it nearly tore off my PFD. (it was very well fitted and didn't ride up before we started, but it had a center zip that peeled open from all the pulling. i don't own my own yet, but it certainly put a side closure at the top of my buy list.)
learnings:
i did not weep when we ran out of pool time and i still hadn't self-rescued, but it was a close thing. i was quivering with exhaustion, and my dreams of solo winter paddling in Lake Union and the ship canal were crashing down.
* * *
it was great to go withphilotera and Sailor J. J was the real hero of the revolution, doing extra stints on the boat side of assisted rescue and driving us home when we were all thoroughly exhausted.
i am now the new owner ofphilotera's neoprene paddling shoes. apparently they were always too large for her, but they fit me perfectly. they're very nice. beats the heck out of my heavy sandals.
today we've been swapping videos of alternate self-rescue techniques. i think i would have more success with the heel-hook method, or maybe a stirrup assist.
i think i need to get serious about doing the kayak routine from Conditioning for Outdoor Fitness. and maybe look into what synchronized swimmers do to lift their bodies out of the water. (doing more swimming wouldn't hurt. my muscle memory is strong but my conditioning is gone.)
i'm very glad to have done it. it didn't go as well as i would have liked, but i now feel like i could definitely assist someone else, and re-enter with an assist probably 8/10 times. theory pretty well understood, more practice required.
self-rescue? nope. i almost got it once, but capsized while shifting into the cockpit even with the paddle-float as an outrigger. the method they were teaching (which, if i understand correctly is the ACA standard) involves heaving your body perpendicularly across the stern of the kayak far enough that your hips are on the deck. you can't successfully pull over with your arms, you have to kick your legs and flop up like a seal. i guess that's fine if you're a dude, or flat-chested like the instructors. i mostly got caught up on the hatches and rigging badly enough that it nearly tore off my PFD. (it was very well fitted and didn't ride up before we started, but it had a center zip that peeled open from all the pulling. i don't own my own yet, but it certainly put a side closure at the top of my buy list.)
learnings:
- your PFD isn't tight enough. no really, tighter. again. cinch that fucker. also, easy removal is not a good thing.
- swimming while wearing my usual paddling clothes is not a problem.
- i always wondered why i saw more inflatable than foam paddle floats. (inflation being a pain and puncture being a fear.) i assumed portability and cost, but it turns out the foam ones don't have as much buoyancy as a two-chamber inflatable.
- when i buy a paddle it will be the strongest fucking paddle. there were points where i had my full weight balanced on the shaft.
- lean toward the float.
- Eddyline kayaks are pretty sweet.
i did not weep when we ran out of pool time and i still hadn't self-rescued, but it was a close thing. i was quivering with exhaustion, and my dreams of solo winter paddling in Lake Union and the ship canal were crashing down.
* * *
it was great to go with
philotera and Sailor J. J was the real hero of the revolution, doing extra stints on the boat side of assisted rescue and driving us home when we were all thoroughly exhausted.i am now the new owner of
philotera's neoprene paddling shoes. apparently they were always too large for her, but they fit me perfectly. they're very nice. beats the heck out of my heavy sandals.today we've been swapping videos of alternate self-rescue techniques. i think i would have more success with the heel-hook method, or maybe a stirrup assist.
i think i need to get serious about doing the kayak routine from Conditioning for Outdoor Fitness. and maybe look into what synchronized swimmers do to lift their bodies out of the water. (doing more swimming wouldn't hurt. my muscle memory is strong but my conditioning is gone.)
no subject
Date: 2017-10-30 07:06 pm (UTC)