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Every one of us has had the same experience – being new to paddling and attending our first HCC meeting. I remember mine in 1988, when HCC still met off Memorial Drive in a building by Buffalo Bayou. I was impressed by the excitement and enthusiasm generated at the meeting and at the great diversity of trips available for paddlers. At that time, my first husband and I were the proud owners of two long sea kayaks. Our first trip with the club was on the San Marcos through a narrow, winding section below Fentress, TX. We were a disaster!!! Our boats were too long to negotiate some narrow turns; our long paddles got hung up in low branches; we turned over, we made the four hour paddle turn into six as HCC members patiently waited for us to recover ourselves – all this in a very quiet, safe section of the water. Problem: we didn’t know what we were doing. Solution: take classes. But in our naivety we didn’t understand the many differences between sea kayaking and white water kayaking and enrolled in a five-day course at Natahala Outdoor Center in North Carolina, the Harvard in training schools for water sports.
It didn’t take long to learn those small, squirrelly white water kayaks were VERY different from our long, straight-a-way sea kayaks. They were less stable but more maneuverable in making turns. After five days I was hooked on moving rapids and eddy turns… and I knew I wanted a canoe rather than a kayak.
We’ve all found our niches – whether it’s kayak (sea or white) or canoe (solo or tandem); whether it’s still quiet bayous, catching the rhythm and beauty of free style, or searching for the adrenaline rush of big waves and drops. The Houston Canoe Club offers all of these. Soon we find ourselves selecting trips that suit our interests and paddlers with similar interests. To a new paddler, this might appear as “cliques” – exclusive little groups. It’s not. It’s just seeing our buddies and planning another trip.
If a trip is listed with HCC, it is open to all HCC members. Trip leaders will describe the type of water (lake, coastal inlet, bayou or river) and anticipated water level (flat, waves, slow moving, classes I to V or flood stage). But, because of the different type of water and water levels, different skills are required of the participants. A trip on Sheldon Lake or down the Buffalo Bayou (not at flood stage) may be perfect for someone just learning to paddle, but a trip to Wyoming where rapids will range in difficulty from Class II – IV would NOT be suitable for the novice paddler. Know your limits. Neither of us can roll our canoe, so we avoid class IV and V rapids (unless the pixies have been messin’ with us and restored our youth for a couple a’ three hours).
One thing our club provides is good, experienced trip coordinators who know the selected paddling section, who are ACA (American Canoe Association) members, and most have experience in river rescue. It is the responsibility of the trip leader to create the safest conditions possible for his the trip participants – one of these is being sure the water is suitable for the person’s skills. Because we lead trips down waters that may be dangerous, it is important that we screen our participants – do they have the skills, the right kind of boat, the right clothing, will they follow our instructions? For example, in the summer time, when the temperature is hot and the hill country waters are low, we encourage less skilled people to come and try out these waters. When a potentially dangerous or tricky section of the river comes up, Bill and two or three other experienced paddlers scout the section and position themselves to assist other paddlers. This takes a lot of work and energy on our part, but it’s worth it to when we see an anxious “newbie’s” face turn to jubilation after conquering a mighty rapid.
However, if the water is UP, new hazards appear (trees down, new or reshaped rapids) making it difficult to anticipate hazards and setup safety stations, or if the temperature is cold, our trips become less inclusive of new people for safety reasons. Nothing is more miserable than turning over in cold weather, getting your boat wrapped around trees, losing your gear, possibly becoming hypothermic and making the trip longer and less enjoyable for everyone. Also, as responsible trip coordinators, we are right there doing everything we can to rescue them, often putting ourselves in peril. On one trip, an inexperienced paddler turned over five times. He no longer had dry clothes, was physically exhausted, and everyone on the trip was anxious at every rapid ….. will he make it or will he turn over and we were exhausted!
We understand very well why the ACA Safety Guidelines for Non-Competitive Events includes:
“Evaluate each participant’s ability to participate, and be willing to turn away less skilled paddlers or direct them to another activity.”
No one we know enjoys rejecting participants. In fact, we think that many members shy away from listing trips because they may have to “play the bad guy” by turning down paddlers on difficult trips. It is also a lot of work to put together a trip. It’s much less stressful to call friends that you are comfortable paddling with and put together a “private” trip.
Yet, we LOVE taking new people. So, if you are new and if you are inexperienced, start as we did – in slower water and with lessons. Talk to trip leaders about upcoming trips and find out what skills and equipment you will need on these trips. When you’re comfortable in flat water, try paddling moving water or surfing ocean waves. (Donna gets seasick ocean kayaking, so that’s not on our skill list.) Soon you too will find the types of paddling that best suits you and, hopefully, will soon be leading trips yourself.
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