Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Again facing a bit of a time crunch, we piled into Jen's rental car with ropes, hardware, harnesses and helmets and headed to Chapel Ledge in Ashfield, the first place that OLP climbed in the fall. We were to meet a Greenfield French 2 class. We found the triangle of grass that marked the left turn we were to take. We parked and climbed to 2nd and 3rd sites bringing the gear to the top where Aaron, Jen, and Kristi started setting up the climbs. Since I'm not taking the cert, I offered to meet the group down at the road and buy some time. We expected Sean to meet us but he hadn't arrived yet. The group pulled up in a van a few minutes after I hiked back down. I started fitting harnesses and helmets and getting to know Tamara or "Madame" as she was known to the students. Eventually, Aaron arrived and we did a name game and then started hiking up, bypassing the first rock face that looked appealing to both the students and me. Not sure why Austin didn't have us use this site.
The wind was blowin' hard as we rounded what I think is Pony Mountain to finish the last leg of the climb. . . it's steep. I had laid packs on the equipment tarp to keep the wind from blowing it off the mountain. We did a name game again since we were now all together. I did an LNT, safety, and Challenge by Choice review and then we hiked down to the sites to let the climbing begin. Since there were only 3 climbs, I really had no function other than to roam and float. I prefer to have a function so it was a challenge to get through the day without stepping on toes and feeling outside the periphery. Sean said it was good to have a floater to manage the site but it wasn't optimal for me. And the plan that I would demo the rappel got scrapped for logistics. I kept an eye on hypothermic looking students and tried to push my extra clothing on them. A few took some as well as Madame's stash but there were a few diehards that refused as they jerked from shivers. I was determined to get authoritarian after lunch if they were still shivering.
We decided to hike down to the first rock site which turned out to be a great group management area, kind of horse-shoe shaped, out of the wind and somewhat sunny. After eating and warming up, the students were ready to give climbing another shot. Kristi led us on a trail that would get blood pumping and was a little gentler climb. I was working mostly with Kristi's group and would cover the belay student while Kristi worked with a climber who needed help.
Finally time to wrap up and debrief down at the parking lot. Tamara needed to get the van of students back by 2 so that a couple could be home to watch siblings. Four were left behind for a parent to pick up but she didn't arrive until 2:30. After they left, we were able to debrief with Sean and agreed that for the most part the day went well and we answered any questions he had about how things went.
This was our last Field Day!!
Friday, April 30, 2010
Canoe Field Work; Level 2 Canoe Cert
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Up early again for canoe field work with a Greenfield high school group. Today it will be me, Kristi, Jen, and Aaron with Kate observing. Got to the boathouse first so loaded the PFDs, throw ropes, first aid kit and tarp in case it was needed for rain at lunch. Austin came by so we loaded a single on his car roof since we were using his car to tow the trailer of 9 canoes.
We finished planning yesterday and given the time allowed, chose to put-in at Riverview across from Northfield Mountain rather than Munns Ferry and paddle down to Barton Cove. Jen and Kate both had car problems in the morning so we were pushing to get things unloaded and ready for their arrival. We shifted roles several times so we needed to be flexible. Kristi and Jen were leading in the morning; Aaron and I in the afternoon. Originally they had planned to split up with students but I said I felt more comfortable being in leadership teams in case we had to run rescues.
We got everyone fitted with PFDs and paddles, taught a few basic strokes to make them mobile and then got them to carry their boats down the rocky bank and launch. Their chaparones, Steve and Kim, both have paddling experience. Steve paddled with a student and Kim with Kate. Kate was hanging back initially as the silent observer but eventually got involved in the banter and Stinky Fish play. Kristi did a good job with natural history talking about the French King Bridge and French King Rock a few hundred feet north of the bridge.
The kids paddled pretty well and by lunch Kate suggested we give them a looser rein. After lunch I was up for lead so we had a couple of relay races along the bank which was quite calm and offered few flipping issues. One of the boats decided to T-bone anyone who got in their way including instructors. After the races we headed down river toward Barton Cove and taking our time because, even though it took a while to get them on the river, we had made really good time on the morning run. Along the way, we offered fine-tuning to some of the student's strokes or alternate strokes. Some wanted and tried the info. Some didn't. We got a little too close to an area and flushed out an eagle who we saw again a little way down the river in a tree.
This was my first time coming to Barton Cove from the river and it looked like we had hit a dead end. Aaron was certain that there would be an opening up on the right though I couldn't make out the difference in landscape detail. The opening showed itself as we were close upon it and then we slid into the familiar Barton Cove boat launch, the island with the huge eagle's nest, the swans that look prehistoric when they fly, and the myriad of ducks and geese. I asked the group to give the island a wide berth so that we don't disturb the wildlife. I kept bringing up LNT principles when the opportunity arose. We will, after all, be official LNT teachers when we finish OLP.
We were going to find a last game to play in the Cove before wrapping up but it started to rain and Steve said he was ready to be dry. We paddled in because we needed to pull all the boats up and everyone seemed to be happy with what they'd done. We were maybe 5 minutes early. Steve and Kim left to get their shuttle vehicle while we completed a debrief with the group. All seemed happy with the day and several said that they never expected to canoe in the rain.
After we loaded all the boats and equipment, we headed to the Wagon Wheel to debrief with Kate. In general she thought that we did well and the day was a success. We realized that none of us have actually seen past evals from Kate, Evan, or Sean for events they've co-led so we'd all like to see those. I had talked with Kate last night to say that I was thinking about going for my Level 2 canoe instructor since I had missed it by a hairs breath a couple of weeks ago. I felt much more at ease leading a group that was not my peers and being out of white water made it easier, too. . . though the white water was often fun. This wasn't the place to discuss it so I figured I'd hear from her later. I got a call on my way home and it was Kate saying that she had talked with Evan and told him that I rocked my leadership and they agreed that I have bumped up to Level 2. It'll take several weeks to make the switch with ACA but I should hear something in a few months. Yipee! Actually, when I got home and put my stuff down, I just started to cry. I think the combination of making the upgrade, exhaustion, and a sense of tension ebbing away after the past couple of weeks, and today, just caught up with me. Lots of emotion. I fell asleep on the couch for a while before getting lunch and gear ready for tomorrow's Rock Climbing Field Work.
Up early again for canoe field work with a Greenfield high school group. Today it will be me, Kristi, Jen, and Aaron with Kate observing. Got to the boathouse first so loaded the PFDs, throw ropes, first aid kit and tarp in case it was needed for rain at lunch. Austin came by so we loaded a single on his car roof since we were using his car to tow the trailer of 9 canoes.
We finished planning yesterday and given the time allowed, chose to put-in at Riverview across from Northfield Mountain rather than Munns Ferry and paddle down to Barton Cove. Jen and Kate both had car problems in the morning so we were pushing to get things unloaded and ready for their arrival. We shifted roles several times so we needed to be flexible. Kristi and Jen were leading in the morning; Aaron and I in the afternoon. Originally they had planned to split up with students but I said I felt more comfortable being in leadership teams in case we had to run rescues.
We got everyone fitted with PFDs and paddles, taught a few basic strokes to make them mobile and then got them to carry their boats down the rocky bank and launch. Their chaparones, Steve and Kim, both have paddling experience. Steve paddled with a student and Kim with Kate. Kate was hanging back initially as the silent observer but eventually got involved in the banter and Stinky Fish play. Kristi did a good job with natural history talking about the French King Bridge and French King Rock a few hundred feet north of the bridge.
The kids paddled pretty well and by lunch Kate suggested we give them a looser rein. After lunch I was up for lead so we had a couple of relay races along the bank which was quite calm and offered few flipping issues. One of the boats decided to T-bone anyone who got in their way including instructors. After the races we headed down river toward Barton Cove and taking our time because, even though it took a while to get them on the river, we had made really good time on the morning run. Along the way, we offered fine-tuning to some of the student's strokes or alternate strokes. Some wanted and tried the info. Some didn't. We got a little too close to an area and flushed out an eagle who we saw again a little way down the river in a tree.
This was my first time coming to Barton Cove from the river and it looked like we had hit a dead end. Aaron was certain that there would be an opening up on the right though I couldn't make out the difference in landscape detail. The opening showed itself as we were close upon it and then we slid into the familiar Barton Cove boat launch, the island with the huge eagle's nest, the swans that look prehistoric when they fly, and the myriad of ducks and geese. I asked the group to give the island a wide berth so that we don't disturb the wildlife. I kept bringing up LNT principles when the opportunity arose. We will, after all, be official LNT teachers when we finish OLP.
We were going to find a last game to play in the Cove before wrapping up but it started to rain and Steve said he was ready to be dry. We paddled in because we needed to pull all the boats up and everyone seemed to be happy with what they'd done. We were maybe 5 minutes early. Steve and Kim left to get their shuttle vehicle while we completed a debrief with the group. All seemed happy with the day and several said that they never expected to canoe in the rain.
After we loaded all the boats and equipment, we headed to the Wagon Wheel to debrief with Kate. In general she thought that we did well and the day was a success. We realized that none of us have actually seen past evals from Kate, Evan, or Sean for events they've co-led so we'd all like to see those. I had talked with Kate last night to say that I was thinking about going for my Level 2 canoe instructor since I had missed it by a hairs breath a couple of weeks ago. I felt much more at ease leading a group that was not my peers and being out of white water made it easier, too. . . though the white water was often fun. This wasn't the place to discuss it so I figured I'd hear from her later. I got a call on my way home and it was Kate saying that she had talked with Evan and told him that I rocked my leadership and they agreed that I have bumped up to Level 2. It'll take several weeks to make the switch with ACA but I should hear something in a few months. Yipee! Actually, when I got home and put my stuff down, I just started to cry. I think the combination of making the upgrade, exhaustion, and a sense of tension ebbing away after the past couple of weeks, and today, just caught up with me. Lots of emotion. I fell asleep on the couch for a while before getting lunch and gear ready for tomorrow's Rock Climbing Field Work.
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Tired, in so many ways
Weeks in April, 2010
I'm tired. Physically it's been a push to get up and out of a tent and now to get up and out of a bed at 4:30 or 5 to be ready for our last field works. I'm tired emotionally as the fact that the end of the semester, the year, is almost upon me. I want my OLP year to end and I do not want it to end. I face the "Now what?" that could make me crazy if I let it. Now I can begin to think about other facets of my life. Wonder what I got out of this year after all. Did I get anything I'd hoped for? Get anything surprising? What did I find beyond the obvious? Much to think about and I imagine it will take time to process. Think about the rest of my life. Like I said, crazy if I let it.
I need to find time to get my head straight. Get back to the calm and purpose that I felt last year, even when it was interrupted by fear. I need the sense of trust that I'm on a path. Believe or not, it is a way to maintain focus and calm needed to keep one's mind from twisting into figure eight knots. Big Sigh.
I'm tired. Physically it's been a push to get up and out of a tent and now to get up and out of a bed at 4:30 or 5 to be ready for our last field works. I'm tired emotionally as the fact that the end of the semester, the year, is almost upon me. I want my OLP year to end and I do not want it to end. I face the "Now what?" that could make me crazy if I let it. Now I can begin to think about other facets of my life. Wonder what I got out of this year after all. Did I get anything I'd hoped for? Get anything surprising? What did I find beyond the obvious? Much to think about and I imagine it will take time to process. Think about the rest of my life. Like I said, crazy if I let it.
I need to find time to get my head straight. Get back to the calm and purpose that I felt last year, even when it was interrupted by fear. I need the sense of trust that I'm on a path. Believe or not, it is a way to maintain focus and calm needed to keep one's mind from twisting into figure eight knots. Big Sigh.
AEE Northeast Regional Conference
Thursday, April 22, 2010
We left Muscongus Bay and headed to the AEE Northeast Conference in Nobleboro about 25 minutes away. We were staying at Camp Kieve, a camp for boys, or as I heard it, wealthy boys in the political, lobbyist, legal track. The leave your shoes at the door, light knotty pine, cathedral ceiling cabins with solid bunks and attached cubbies, were an initial indicator of money. I was awarded a scholarship from AEE which is the only way I got there. . . the plastic bill has come in and supposedly the check's in the mail.
Friday was pre-conference workshops that neither Kristi nor I had signed up for. Anna was doing service crew and Beth was in meetings. Kristi and I drove out to Pemaquid Point for the afternoon. What a treat to climb the rocks, investigate tidal pools with their own eco systems, take pictures, and watch the tide come in all afternoon. "Dear Mark" became my call every time the surf crashed in as I had expected on the sea kayak cert trip. Sweet down time and fun to spend time with Kristi.
Back at the conference we went to varied workshops and went out for dinner and a beer at the Publick House. I had hoped to find more networking for jobs than I did but got to talk with a couple of women, including Laurie Frank the keynote. Lance Lee was the recipient of the Josh Miner Dialogue award and unfortunately his interview didn't go so well. I think the interviewer had an agenda that had little to do with an audience getting to know Lance Lee more intimately and recording his story for the JMD series.
We headed out on Sunday and discovered that Red's Eats was indeed open. I got my lobster roll!
We left Muscongus Bay and headed to the AEE Northeast Conference in Nobleboro about 25 minutes away. We were staying at Camp Kieve, a camp for boys, or as I heard it, wealthy boys in the political, lobbyist, legal track. The leave your shoes at the door, light knotty pine, cathedral ceiling cabins with solid bunks and attached cubbies, were an initial indicator of money. I was awarded a scholarship from AEE which is the only way I got there. . . the plastic bill has come in and supposedly the check's in the mail.
Friday was pre-conference workshops that neither Kristi nor I had signed up for. Anna was doing service crew and Beth was in meetings. Kristi and I drove out to Pemaquid Point for the afternoon. What a treat to climb the rocks, investigate tidal pools with their own eco systems, take pictures, and watch the tide come in all afternoon. "Dear Mark" became my call every time the surf crashed in as I had expected on the sea kayak cert trip. Sweet down time and fun to spend time with Kristi.
Back at the conference we went to varied workshops and went out for dinner and a beer at the Publick House. I had hoped to find more networking for jobs than I did but got to talk with a couple of women, including Laurie Frank the keynote. Lance Lee was the recipient of the Josh Miner Dialogue award and unfortunately his interview didn't go so well. I think the interviewer had an agenda that had little to do with an audience getting to know Lance Lee more intimately and recording his story for the JMD series.
We headed out on Sunday and discovered that Red's Eats was indeed open. I got my lobster roll!
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Coastal Kayaking - Muscongus Bay, ME
Sunday, April 18 - Thursday, 22, 2010 (written 4/27, my 1st chance to post since leaving for kayaking)
Packing. I haven't been out camping since November but feel like I was getting the sense of how to pack with some semblance of a plan. Hiking and canoe packing are their own kinds of animal. In both we used backpacks and canoeing allows you to pack without as much thought to weight. Now I have to pack my gear for a five day kayak trip into a bunch of dry bags--and they have to be small enough to fit into the two kayak compartments. That means everything needs to be shoved, squished, and mushed down the hatch and weight balanced so the boat lays evenly. Long skinny things need to be placed far up into the ends of the bow and stern. I have a new mesh duffle to help me make one trip loading and unloading to and from camps and from the boat. I don't finish packing until 2 a.m. I don't fall asleep until 4 a.m. and have to get up at 4:30 to be at GCC for 6:00 a.m.
Beth arrives at GCC and strolls over with two small bags. My mouth gapes open and her wife Darrell says that's the look she'll keep with her for the week while we're gone. One of the bags is a sleeping bag I'm borrowing (still don't own one!). Then she walks over with two duffles. Okay, more like it. I run up to get the van keys from Public Safety and our group piles into the van: Kristi, Jen, Erin, Coquette, Aaron, Joe and Beth. Anna is driving her car because four of us will go to the conference and we need a vehicle to come back. I get in to drive with Anna but don't stay 'cause she was smoking and I can feel my lungs constrict. I join the van group and Anna drives the five hours behind us with a few phone calls to check in with her.
We're to meet Mark, our cert instructor, in Wiscasset, ME and we have lunch with him at Sarah's across from Red's Eats, our original destination but it's not yet open for the season. Mark is tall, hovering around 50, married at 40 and has a couple of young kids. He drove from VT and passed us on the highway but we get to Sarah's ahead of him. We order lunch, go around the group giving him snap shots of who he'll be working with and we put him on a tepid hot seat to get to know him. . . he is going to determine our cert after all, and we're all groggy from the five hour drive.
We follow he and Beth to our put-in at Bremen Lobster Coop. We park, unload and drag boats and bags and bags of gear to the dock, get into our dry suits, booties, rescue PFDs, grab paddles and other gear, then slide boats into the water off the dock. As the kayak rocks with me sealed under the kayak skirt, I take a little time to get my sea-butt again. I begin to feel comfortable as we paddle out toward Hogg Island. We arrive and find that our info was bogus and camping is not allowed. We continue paddling, see a young eagle perched in a tree, then we land at Crow Island which does allow camping. It's a tiny island but serves us well.
After unloading and cooking dinner, we gather and talk about what's up for tomorrow. I suggest that we be ready for 9 a.m., treachery in wilderness circles. Beth gasps. I don't look at Mark. I argue that some of us have had little sleep and after this long day, it can only benefit us in the long run. It's agreed that 9:00 will work and Beth and Mark listen later to the weather reports and let us know that we won't break camp in the morning. What a treat! No packing tomorrow. I've never spent a camp night when we didn't have to break camp.
As we sit gathered, it's time now for my LNT presentation on Disposing of Waste Properly. . .namely, human waste. We all have our allotment of RestStop Bags into which we shall all poop--most of us for the first time. I get to give the presentation and we have lots of laughs. Beth wants me to first give a demo of the former newspaper "burrito style" wrap that gets dumped into a baggie. Before baggies, she references pooping on a rock and tossing the long ball into the sea. Now, we get to open a biodegradable bag, complete with TP, a wipe, and kitty litter type stuff at the bottom of the bag that will suck up moisture and control odor. Beth suggests we use the bag twice to conserve. Before long, our camp has silver poop bags near respective tent sites. Amazing how personal hygiene becomes a public and easy topic. . . "I'll be back, need to use my bag."
Anna and I share her two person tent. Two person tents are a joke when there's two people actually sharing. I wake up every morning stiff and sore from not being able to move or stretch. Didn't help my daily paddling. Spent a chilly night. I took off too many layers and didn't fully zip my bag. Anna and I got up once to pee, both encouraging the other to get up mid-night in the cold. I am the first person up in the morning. I brush my teeth, use my bag, and am thrilled that I brought my down puff and balaclava. I'm warming up and will put the face covering up for a few laughs when the others are up. I'm not much of a tent buddy since I left my matches at home and can't find Anna's lighter to get hot water started. Anna and I each have our own stove so that makes it easy to cook our own meals. I realize how self-sufficient I feel when I can start my own stove to cook when I'm ready.
Don't want to wake Anna so am taking advantage of this time to write on the rocks looking at the sunrise mirror in the water. Yesterday we were close to Thief Island which is out a ways but winds are expected today and had we ventured out that far, Beth says that as novice paddlers, we might have been stuck there for a few days. Now, I sit on this quiet and calm scene of low rocks that stretch parallel to the small shore. Below is a jungle of rock weed, slippery wet from the ebbing tide though I think it may never dry. Beth says if we've never walked on it we'll probably fall once or twice. I haven't but don't. Later she pulls a bud, tastes it and suggests we give it a try. I don't try it until several days later but then enjoy the sea salt taste.
As I gaze out from our island, I count what I think are twenty six islands if I've separated their detail well. Some are likely a couple of miles out. I watch the passing current and am reminded of my presentation on Tides and Currents, totally new material that I've always wanted to understand--it's quite detailed and I don't exactly have it down.
We head out for the day on Monday, have a presentation or two and paddle up and around a few islands. Each night we gather for a short while after dinner but the tense pressure to get things done on other trips isn't present on this trip. Tuesday I wake and begin a downward spiral getting ready. I'm first up again but last to the boats and the camping crazies start up again. Mark makes note that we need to be on time. I let his chastisement get to me and while others have buddied up, I'm struggling to get my skirt on while everyone's waiting for me. Bow facing shore, I'm in tears as Jen paddles over to see if I need help. Paddled through the morning, came across a big old boat wreck and an old lobster pen at the Bremen Lobster Coop. We talked to the guys up on their dock and truck. They used to keep lobsters in the pen and feed them but it became too expensive. Now the pen serves as a place we could enter and practice strokes without current. Eventually worked out of my funk. The next day I was determined to be first at the boats. . . made it, not quite first but maybe 3rd.
We spent a lot of time working on our presentations. Mark wasn't especially crazy about any of them and kept pushing us to use what we had in front of us rather than talking about the topics. We were front-loading and using people to demo but it wasn't enough. We were also supposed to be presenting to beginners but the topics and amount of time to present was confusing. Rather than talk about waves, show the waves by piling sand in rows. I went to Beth and Mark the night before my presentation to let them know what I was planning and to see if they had other suggestions. I had figured I would have one person be the moon and circle the earth. Both would circle the sun to demo gravity's pull creating tides. Needed clarity on the neap tides vs spring tides and where to place the moon. Kind of messed up the direction piece talking about tides being vertical to shore while current was horizontal to shore. Simple but not exactly correct. Came out okay but I missed the so-what aspect as I concentrated on the visual presentation. On our 2nd last day we fit in my Rules of the Navigational Road. Mark stopped me part way through saying I was talking too much. He told me to pick the nuns "Red Right Return" into the harbor and do it right then. I put my red PFD on the ground and someone suggested using Erin's green PFD to be the green "can." Nuns and cans mark the shipping channels that kayaks have no business being in. I had a few people be a big boat coming down the channel and I steered Anna along the red right return but actually confused the situation with words. Agghh! Made Mark's point again though he appreciated my use in the moment of what I had with me. And, Aaron said, "Oh, that's what it means!" So, Mark made note that the change in method helped someone get the concept.
Mark kind of blew it for Coquette's presentation on Wind and Waves. Beth said that she and I had the toughest presentations because they were technical and detailed. Coquette's was going on a little long and Mark butted in asking, "Is this almost done?"
"Well, almost," said Coquette slowly, contemplating the interruption.
"Okay 'cause I'm f'ing done!"
"Whoa," was all that came out of my mouth though what I wanted to say was "That's really harsh! How is someone supposed to continue after that?" But she did and when she was done, Coquette looked pretty angry. Mark apologized and said he had meant it to sound funny. He hoped he didn't blow the trust of the group. He had. He apologized several more times to Coquette and again to us but the damage was done. And he's human. But he's also our examiner. Never felt quite the same again. Coquette said later that she's used to assholes in her corporate past but didn't expect it here.
One day while paddling we came by the Lobster Coop to see if we could buy some lobsters. Beth was all about it, having grown up in Falmouth fully raised around the sea. The boat wasn't back yet so we headed out to practice strokes and do more presentations and leadership which included "surprise" capsizes for the leaders to show their T-rescue stuff. Also learned how to paddle in "HOT" to a paddler in trouble and capture their kayak to tow them in. We learned to manhandle the boat rather than try to line up exactly in the T. Grab the boat and push it around. I did it well on our initial day but not as well on my test day. Beth went back to the lobster guys a little later and paddled back with a bag full of rubber banded crustaceans destined for the pot. Kristi and Jen wanted a lesson in lobster cracking and I thought I would try it again but couldn't look at them or hold them much. Gave mine to Anna and Beth. I'd get a lobster roll sometime before I left Maine. Vegetarians and vegans, I know.
On our 2nd last day, Coquette was leading the group and I was supposed to lead after her. I think it was Jen who noticed the sky. Mark had us leave stroke instruction behind and get moving. At some point the black sky became ominous enough that he took back leadership and pushed us to cross the channel and paddle hard for at least 45 minutes maybe an hour to get back to Crow Island. Part way through Beth suggested I drop my rudder and see what that felt like, knowing it would help. We're discouraged from using them because rudders can break and we need to know how to maneuver the boat. I think it's also important to have the experience at least once so that when teaching someone else, I will know what I'm talking about. The rudder took a little getting used to and did help though I had to get used to the rhythm again without it. We made it back to Crow and the storm dissipated and passed off. We could have gone back out but spent the rest of the day getting warm and making dinner.
Our last day was short. Beth, me, Kristi and Anna were going to the AEE Conference in Nobleboro and Beth needed to be there by 11 for meetings. Anna started the lead and I took it up for maybe an hour. I had to rescue Coquette and started doing the T-rescue but she had been given instructions to do a different rescue, I think it was the hook. Mark was yelling over that I need to use my command river voice but since the drill was changed, I didn't know the instructions. Once into her boat, I got the group to the Lobster Coop and our dock where we could unload our 4 boats. The rest of the group stayed with Mark for a little longer.
It was disappointing that in our 5 days there, we never got out into real waves. I had been reading Shelley Johnson's A Woman's Guide to Sea Kayaking and was expecting to learn how to maneuver through waves, how to land and launch properly while using tide charts. In reality, it felt to me more like paddling on a rough lake. We had some current but had more current and white water in our white water canoeing and kayaking. This felt pretty tame. I guess if one of us had been thinking about going for Level 3 cert, we would have gone out. It didn't occur to our group to say we wanted to get out there. The thrill factor was missing on this trip. Other than running from a storm, it was mainly practice paddling and drill those presentations, teach strokes, and demo leadership. I guess that's the difference with certification but we all think the next group will likely have a sea experience. Mark offered to have any of us upgrade to Level 3 with him for free since we've taken this course with him. In the end, I got my American Canoe Association Level 2 certification as a sea kayak instructor. Not sure it's sunk in yet.
Packing. I haven't been out camping since November but feel like I was getting the sense of how to pack with some semblance of a plan. Hiking and canoe packing are their own kinds of animal. In both we used backpacks and canoeing allows you to pack without as much thought to weight. Now I have to pack my gear for a five day kayak trip into a bunch of dry bags--and they have to be small enough to fit into the two kayak compartments. That means everything needs to be shoved, squished, and mushed down the hatch and weight balanced so the boat lays evenly. Long skinny things need to be placed far up into the ends of the bow and stern. I have a new mesh duffle to help me make one trip loading and unloading to and from camps and from the boat. I don't finish packing until 2 a.m. I don't fall asleep until 4 a.m. and have to get up at 4:30 to be at GCC for 6:00 a.m.
Beth arrives at GCC and strolls over with two small bags. My mouth gapes open and her wife Darrell says that's the look she'll keep with her for the week while we're gone. One of the bags is a sleeping bag I'm borrowing (still don't own one!). Then she walks over with two duffles. Okay, more like it. I run up to get the van keys from Public Safety and our group piles into the van: Kristi, Jen, Erin, Coquette, Aaron, Joe and Beth. Anna is driving her car because four of us will go to the conference and we need a vehicle to come back. I get in to drive with Anna but don't stay 'cause she was smoking and I can feel my lungs constrict. I join the van group and Anna drives the five hours behind us with a few phone calls to check in with her.
We're to meet Mark, our cert instructor, in Wiscasset, ME and we have lunch with him at Sarah's across from Red's Eats, our original destination but it's not yet open for the season. Mark is tall, hovering around 50, married at 40 and has a couple of young kids. He drove from VT and passed us on the highway but we get to Sarah's ahead of him. We order lunch, go around the group giving him snap shots of who he'll be working with and we put him on a tepid hot seat to get to know him. . . he is going to determine our cert after all, and we're all groggy from the five hour drive.
We follow he and Beth to our put-in at Bremen Lobster Coop. We park, unload and drag boats and bags and bags of gear to the dock, get into our dry suits, booties, rescue PFDs, grab paddles and other gear, then slide boats into the water off the dock. As the kayak rocks with me sealed under the kayak skirt, I take a little time to get my sea-butt again. I begin to feel comfortable as we paddle out toward Hogg Island. We arrive and find that our info was bogus and camping is not allowed. We continue paddling, see a young eagle perched in a tree, then we land at Crow Island which does allow camping. It's a tiny island but serves us well.
After unloading and cooking dinner, we gather and talk about what's up for tomorrow. I suggest that we be ready for 9 a.m., treachery in wilderness circles. Beth gasps. I don't look at Mark. I argue that some of us have had little sleep and after this long day, it can only benefit us in the long run. It's agreed that 9:00 will work and Beth and Mark listen later to the weather reports and let us know that we won't break camp in the morning. What a treat! No packing tomorrow. I've never spent a camp night when we didn't have to break camp.
As we sit gathered, it's time now for my LNT presentation on Disposing of Waste Properly. . .namely, human waste. We all have our allotment of RestStop Bags into which we shall all poop--most of us for the first time. I get to give the presentation and we have lots of laughs. Beth wants me to first give a demo of the former newspaper "burrito style" wrap that gets dumped into a baggie. Before baggies, she references pooping on a rock and tossing the long ball into the sea. Now, we get to open a biodegradable bag, complete with TP, a wipe, and kitty litter type stuff at the bottom of the bag that will suck up moisture and control odor. Beth suggests we use the bag twice to conserve. Before long, our camp has silver poop bags near respective tent sites. Amazing how personal hygiene becomes a public and easy topic. . . "I'll be back, need to use my bag."
Anna and I share her two person tent. Two person tents are a joke when there's two people actually sharing. I wake up every morning stiff and sore from not being able to move or stretch. Didn't help my daily paddling. Spent a chilly night. I took off too many layers and didn't fully zip my bag. Anna and I got up once to pee, both encouraging the other to get up mid-night in the cold. I am the first person up in the morning. I brush my teeth, use my bag, and am thrilled that I brought my down puff and balaclava. I'm warming up and will put the face covering up for a few laughs when the others are up. I'm not much of a tent buddy since I left my matches at home and can't find Anna's lighter to get hot water started. Anna and I each have our own stove so that makes it easy to cook our own meals. I realize how self-sufficient I feel when I can start my own stove to cook when I'm ready.
Don't want to wake Anna so am taking advantage of this time to write on the rocks looking at the sunrise mirror in the water. Yesterday we were close to Thief Island which is out a ways but winds are expected today and had we ventured out that far, Beth says that as novice paddlers, we might have been stuck there for a few days. Now, I sit on this quiet and calm scene of low rocks that stretch parallel to the small shore. Below is a jungle of rock weed, slippery wet from the ebbing tide though I think it may never dry. Beth says if we've never walked on it we'll probably fall once or twice. I haven't but don't. Later she pulls a bud, tastes it and suggests we give it a try. I don't try it until several days later but then enjoy the sea salt taste.
As I gaze out from our island, I count what I think are twenty six islands if I've separated their detail well. Some are likely a couple of miles out. I watch the passing current and am reminded of my presentation on Tides and Currents, totally new material that I've always wanted to understand--it's quite detailed and I don't exactly have it down.
We head out for the day on Monday, have a presentation or two and paddle up and around a few islands. Each night we gather for a short while after dinner but the tense pressure to get things done on other trips isn't present on this trip. Tuesday I wake and begin a downward spiral getting ready. I'm first up again but last to the boats and the camping crazies start up again. Mark makes note that we need to be on time. I let his chastisement get to me and while others have buddied up, I'm struggling to get my skirt on while everyone's waiting for me. Bow facing shore, I'm in tears as Jen paddles over to see if I need help. Paddled through the morning, came across a big old boat wreck and an old lobster pen at the Bremen Lobster Coop. We talked to the guys up on their dock and truck. They used to keep lobsters in the pen and feed them but it became too expensive. Now the pen serves as a place we could enter and practice strokes without current. Eventually worked out of my funk. The next day I was determined to be first at the boats. . . made it, not quite first but maybe 3rd.
We spent a lot of time working on our presentations. Mark wasn't especially crazy about any of them and kept pushing us to use what we had in front of us rather than talking about the topics. We were front-loading and using people to demo but it wasn't enough. We were also supposed to be presenting to beginners but the topics and amount of time to present was confusing. Rather than talk about waves, show the waves by piling sand in rows. I went to Beth and Mark the night before my presentation to let them know what I was planning and to see if they had other suggestions. I had figured I would have one person be the moon and circle the earth. Both would circle the sun to demo gravity's pull creating tides. Needed clarity on the neap tides vs spring tides and where to place the moon. Kind of messed up the direction piece talking about tides being vertical to shore while current was horizontal to shore. Simple but not exactly correct. Came out okay but I missed the so-what aspect as I concentrated on the visual presentation. On our 2nd last day we fit in my Rules of the Navigational Road. Mark stopped me part way through saying I was talking too much. He told me to pick the nuns "Red Right Return" into the harbor and do it right then. I put my red PFD on the ground and someone suggested using Erin's green PFD to be the green "can." Nuns and cans mark the shipping channels that kayaks have no business being in. I had a few people be a big boat coming down the channel and I steered Anna along the red right return but actually confused the situation with words. Agghh! Made Mark's point again though he appreciated my use in the moment of what I had with me. And, Aaron said, "Oh, that's what it means!" So, Mark made note that the change in method helped someone get the concept.
Mark kind of blew it for Coquette's presentation on Wind and Waves. Beth said that she and I had the toughest presentations because they were technical and detailed. Coquette's was going on a little long and Mark butted in asking, "Is this almost done?"
"Well, almost," said Coquette slowly, contemplating the interruption.
"Okay 'cause I'm f'ing done!"
"Whoa," was all that came out of my mouth though what I wanted to say was "That's really harsh! How is someone supposed to continue after that?" But she did and when she was done, Coquette looked pretty angry. Mark apologized and said he had meant it to sound funny. He hoped he didn't blow the trust of the group. He had. He apologized several more times to Coquette and again to us but the damage was done. And he's human. But he's also our examiner. Never felt quite the same again. Coquette said later that she's used to assholes in her corporate past but didn't expect it here.
One day while paddling we came by the Lobster Coop to see if we could buy some lobsters. Beth was all about it, having grown up in Falmouth fully raised around the sea. The boat wasn't back yet so we headed out to practice strokes and do more presentations and leadership which included "surprise" capsizes for the leaders to show their T-rescue stuff. Also learned how to paddle in "HOT" to a paddler in trouble and capture their kayak to tow them in. We learned to manhandle the boat rather than try to line up exactly in the T. Grab the boat and push it around. I did it well on our initial day but not as well on my test day. Beth went back to the lobster guys a little later and paddled back with a bag full of rubber banded crustaceans destined for the pot. Kristi and Jen wanted a lesson in lobster cracking and I thought I would try it again but couldn't look at them or hold them much. Gave mine to Anna and Beth. I'd get a lobster roll sometime before I left Maine. Vegetarians and vegans, I know.
On our 2nd last day, Coquette was leading the group and I was supposed to lead after her. I think it was Jen who noticed the sky. Mark had us leave stroke instruction behind and get moving. At some point the black sky became ominous enough that he took back leadership and pushed us to cross the channel and paddle hard for at least 45 minutes maybe an hour to get back to Crow Island. Part way through Beth suggested I drop my rudder and see what that felt like, knowing it would help. We're discouraged from using them because rudders can break and we need to know how to maneuver the boat. I think it's also important to have the experience at least once so that when teaching someone else, I will know what I'm talking about. The rudder took a little getting used to and did help though I had to get used to the rhythm again without it. We made it back to Crow and the storm dissipated and passed off. We could have gone back out but spent the rest of the day getting warm and making dinner.
Our last day was short. Beth, me, Kristi and Anna were going to the AEE Conference in Nobleboro and Beth needed to be there by 11 for meetings. Anna started the lead and I took it up for maybe an hour. I had to rescue Coquette and started doing the T-rescue but she had been given instructions to do a different rescue, I think it was the hook. Mark was yelling over that I need to use my command river voice but since the drill was changed, I didn't know the instructions. Once into her boat, I got the group to the Lobster Coop and our dock where we could unload our 4 boats. The rest of the group stayed with Mark for a little longer.
It was disappointing that in our 5 days there, we never got out into real waves. I had been reading Shelley Johnson's A Woman's Guide to Sea Kayaking and was expecting to learn how to maneuver through waves, how to land and launch properly while using tide charts. In reality, it felt to me more like paddling on a rough lake. We had some current but had more current and white water in our white water canoeing and kayaking. This felt pretty tame. I guess if one of us had been thinking about going for Level 3 cert, we would have gone out. It didn't occur to our group to say we wanted to get out there. The thrill factor was missing on this trip. Other than running from a storm, it was mainly practice paddling and drill those presentations, teach strokes, and demo leadership. I guess that's the difference with certification but we all think the next group will likely have a sea experience. Mark offered to have any of us upgrade to Level 3 with him for free since we've taken this course with him. In the end, I got my American Canoe Association Level 2 certification as a sea kayak instructor. Not sure it's sunk in yet.
Friday, April 16, 2010
Rock Climbing Cert Prep-Day 3
Friday, April 16, 2010
My group kind of disintegrated today so, on my own, I thought I would try setting up a basic institutional rappel and see what I could do. Austin said, if it worked for me, I could though we both knew it was the end of any possible cert. I grabbed some ropes, webbing, and chocks, along with my personal gear that I had checked out and headed up to find a site. A few mornings ago I heard David Byrne's "Like Humans Do," and found myself singing, "I'm Breathing In, I'm Breathing Out." I sang it to myself with emphasis as the climb quickly became steep and sketchy, made worse by carrying my climbing equipment on my harness and holding two heavy ropes. I had flashbacks to my November "Devil's Hopyard" climb in the White Mountains. My scared little girl was climbing again. I couldn't find how to get to any sites and was passing groups already at sites as I climbed higher. I went one way and then doubled back trying to find a way up. If I hadn't fallen into my scared kid mode, I could have casually hollered to someone to find the path. Scooching down, I hugged the path--the term path used about as loosely as the loose dirt and rocks on which I was trying not to slide off and fall below. I tried throwing the ropes ahead of me but that only creates a tangled mass and mess. Going down these skinny paths was worse than climbing because I was facing how high I was. Eventually I made my way to an area that had some appropriate trees for anchors but they were set well back from the cliff and had a couple of pseudo cliffs between them and the real cliff. Sean saw me while checking on another group and came by to see what I was up to. I told him the climb had sketched me out so I took time to recoil the rope and couldn't say exactly what I was trying to do other than set up a rappel. He got the picture and said he'd be back to check on me. A while later, both he and Austin came by as I was putting wraps around the tree for an anchor. I tried to keep a brave face at my pathetic attempt, probably 45 minutes after everyone headed to their sites and most if not all were set up and waiting for the green light to climb. I told them I was not expecting anyone to climb on my site. They'd be back to check on me again. Tears again because I knew that I had information but I was too upset to pull it together. I fought with myself about trying and then, cold and hungry, decided the jig was up and took the anchor down, recoiled the ropes and headed back to the sketchy trail. I saw Austin as I was schooching on my butt. He asked about my set up and I said that there hadn't been much to see. End of story.
When I got down to my pack, I grabbed my surprisingly good gluten-free Snickerdoodle and thermos of hot chocolate. Laura came over from one of the climbs and told me to come on over and climb. My sense was Sean sent her 'cause he knew I wasn't doing well and needed a diversion. I told her I'd be over but she came back again to encourage me over. I followed her over and she offered to belay me. The climb was a 5.6 and I pushed myself the whole way. Laura loves climbing--she's like a monkey. She was great coaching me about where the good foot and hand holds were. It's often hard to see them when you're up so close and it's a good idea to plan a route before you go. I'm not sure how high the climb was, maybe 50', but I was about two more moves from the bolts at the top. I was ready to stop a couple of times but Laura convinced me to try another step or hold. Austin was encouraging as well which made me want to go higher, especially since I blew the anchor setup. I felt satisfied by my climb when I was back on the ground and could look to see where I'd been. Oh, yeah, I rappelled down which oddly is not such a scary deal. . . kind of fun.
After my climb, it was lunch time and Austin showed us another set-up using artificial anchors and it was an instructor rescue belay. I had done the belay yesterday but knew that I didn't expect to ever be rescuing someone. I moved between a couple of sites, watching the climbers and shouting encouragement. Sarah Maney was working on a tough one and Aaron tried it later on. Kaytee was doing one and was a little nervous and wanting someone's presence for a bit. After, I decided to climb around to the cave and go through to the other end. I came back again and just sat for a while at the entrance, enjoying the solitude as I passed time. Not a productive day other than my climb.
Finally got back to GCC and ended up working for a few hours prepping equipment for the sea kayaking trip on Sunday and helping Beth with field work paperwork.
We leave at 6 a.m. on Sunday for sea kayaking at Muscongus Bay in Maine and on Thursday, some of us leave for home while I and others head to the AEE Regional Conference, also in Maine, and come back on Sunday. I was awarded a scholarship and I'm hoping there will be some good networking and job leads. The semester is escaping my grasp!
My group kind of disintegrated today so, on my own, I thought I would try setting up a basic institutional rappel and see what I could do. Austin said, if it worked for me, I could though we both knew it was the end of any possible cert. I grabbed some ropes, webbing, and chocks, along with my personal gear that I had checked out and headed up to find a site. A few mornings ago I heard David Byrne's "Like Humans Do," and found myself singing, "I'm Breathing In, I'm Breathing Out." I sang it to myself with emphasis as the climb quickly became steep and sketchy, made worse by carrying my climbing equipment on my harness and holding two heavy ropes. I had flashbacks to my November "Devil's Hopyard" climb in the White Mountains. My scared little girl was climbing again. I couldn't find how to get to any sites and was passing groups already at sites as I climbed higher. I went one way and then doubled back trying to find a way up. If I hadn't fallen into my scared kid mode, I could have casually hollered to someone to find the path. Scooching down, I hugged the path--the term path used about as loosely as the loose dirt and rocks on which I was trying not to slide off and fall below. I tried throwing the ropes ahead of me but that only creates a tangled mass and mess. Going down these skinny paths was worse than climbing because I was facing how high I was. Eventually I made my way to an area that had some appropriate trees for anchors but they were set well back from the cliff and had a couple of pseudo cliffs between them and the real cliff. Sean saw me while checking on another group and came by to see what I was up to. I told him the climb had sketched me out so I took time to recoil the rope and couldn't say exactly what I was trying to do other than set up a rappel. He got the picture and said he'd be back to check on me. A while later, both he and Austin came by as I was putting wraps around the tree for an anchor. I tried to keep a brave face at my pathetic attempt, probably 45 minutes after everyone headed to their sites and most if not all were set up and waiting for the green light to climb. I told them I was not expecting anyone to climb on my site. They'd be back to check on me again. Tears again because I knew that I had information but I was too upset to pull it together. I fought with myself about trying and then, cold and hungry, decided the jig was up and took the anchor down, recoiled the ropes and headed back to the sketchy trail. I saw Austin as I was schooching on my butt. He asked about my set up and I said that there hadn't been much to see. End of story.
When I got down to my pack, I grabbed my surprisingly good gluten-free Snickerdoodle and thermos of hot chocolate. Laura came over from one of the climbs and told me to come on over and climb. My sense was Sean sent her 'cause he knew I wasn't doing well and needed a diversion. I told her I'd be over but she came back again to encourage me over. I followed her over and she offered to belay me. The climb was a 5.6 and I pushed myself the whole way. Laura loves climbing--she's like a monkey. She was great coaching me about where the good foot and hand holds were. It's often hard to see them when you're up so close and it's a good idea to plan a route before you go. I'm not sure how high the climb was, maybe 50', but I was about two more moves from the bolts at the top. I was ready to stop a couple of times but Laura convinced me to try another step or hold. Austin was encouraging as well which made me want to go higher, especially since I blew the anchor setup. I felt satisfied by my climb when I was back on the ground and could look to see where I'd been. Oh, yeah, I rappelled down which oddly is not such a scary deal. . . kind of fun.
After my climb, it was lunch time and Austin showed us another set-up using artificial anchors and it was an instructor rescue belay. I had done the belay yesterday but knew that I didn't expect to ever be rescuing someone. I moved between a couple of sites, watching the climbers and shouting encouragement. Sarah Maney was working on a tough one and Aaron tried it later on. Kaytee was doing one and was a little nervous and wanting someone's presence for a bit. After, I decided to climb around to the cave and go through to the other end. I came back again and just sat for a while at the entrance, enjoying the solitude as I passed time. Not a productive day other than my climb.
Finally got back to GCC and ended up working for a few hours prepping equipment for the sea kayaking trip on Sunday and helping Beth with field work paperwork.
We leave at 6 a.m. on Sunday for sea kayaking at Muscongus Bay in Maine and on Thursday, some of us leave for home while I and others head to the AEE Regional Conference, also in Maine, and come back on Sunday. I was awarded a scholarship and I'm hoping there will be some good networking and job leads. The semester is escaping my grasp!
Rock Climbing Review & Cert Prep-Day 2
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Erin and I found a cliff to set up a rappel system on what was probably the highest site used by our group. We knew that since Aaron was going for the Top Management cert, we were on our own and would have to learn it by ourselves. We were supposed to create anchors using artificial chocks, tri-cams, nuts, etc. but our site had only one crack to place one which I did. We reverted to tree anchors and stumbled on some knots but figured them out between our own heads and a book. It really is about review. Sean checked our system and suggested I belay him down. This meant that he would rappel but I would be his back-up belay. In theory, it means that I would be watching and coaching him from the edge of the cliff as he rappelled. In practice, he coached me on what I would say to a beginner stepping over the ledge and how to help them maneuver the next lip of rock with little bushes in their way. The trick for me was standing at the edge and having to look over. It took a while to figure out the distance I should be at on the rope and to tie in on a Prusik for safety back up. In an odd twist, Erin supported me as I belayed in much the same way when she belayed me on my first rappel. "You're doing great, Eileen. That's awesome." When Sean hit bottom and was off belay, Erin suggested I belay her next. She made it to the bottom.
I felt great having accomplished my first top rope belays, especially up so high. A new milestone.
Tomorrow, climbing if it doesn't rain.
Erin and I found a cliff to set up a rappel system on what was probably the highest site used by our group. We knew that since Aaron was going for the Top Management cert, we were on our own and would have to learn it by ourselves. We were supposed to create anchors using artificial chocks, tri-cams, nuts, etc. but our site had only one crack to place one which I did. We reverted to tree anchors and stumbled on some knots but figured them out between our own heads and a book. It really is about review. Sean checked our system and suggested I belay him down. This meant that he would rappel but I would be his back-up belay. In theory, it means that I would be watching and coaching him from the edge of the cliff as he rappelled. In practice, he coached me on what I would say to a beginner stepping over the ledge and how to help them maneuver the next lip of rock with little bushes in their way. The trick for me was standing at the edge and having to look over. It took a while to figure out the distance I should be at on the rope and to tie in on a Prusik for safety back up. In an odd twist, Erin supported me as I belayed in much the same way when she belayed me on my first rappel. "You're doing great, Eileen. That's awesome." When Sean hit bottom and was off belay, Erin suggested I belay her next. She made it to the bottom.
I felt great having accomplished my first top rope belays, especially up so high. A new milestone.
Tomorrow, climbing if it doesn't rain.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Rock Climbing Review & Cert Prep-Day 1
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Headed to Rose Ledge this morning after reviewing our self test on Rock Climbing knowledge from a few months ago.
Hiked up to the ledge and remembered the strenuous hike and what it felt like to look up and see Rose Ledge the first time. Today the plan is to set up systems using artificial anchors. We play with cams and the like, testing to see how to place them in rock cracks to get good holds. Next we went up top and set up systems and rappelled down. I did it! I did it with not nearly the drama of the first rappel some months ago. Aaron took a video so whenever he sends that I'll post. A fairly amazing transition and growth. . . still scary but not numbing like before. Only one person didn't rappel but she's thinking about it for tomorrow. I think if I do it, everyone feels the need. In fact I think I heard someone say, "You're not going to let Eileen show you up, are you?"
Tomorrow, more of the same and then some.
Headed to Rose Ledge this morning after reviewing our self test on Rock Climbing knowledge from a few months ago.
Hiked up to the ledge and remembered the strenuous hike and what it felt like to look up and see Rose Ledge the first time. Today the plan is to set up systems using artificial anchors. We play with cams and the like, testing to see how to place them in rock cracks to get good holds. Next we went up top and set up systems and rappelled down. I did it! I did it with not nearly the drama of the first rappel some months ago. Aaron took a video so whenever he sends that I'll post. A fairly amazing transition and growth. . . still scary but not numbing like before. Only one person didn't rappel but she's thinking about it for tomorrow. I think if I do it, everyone feels the need. In fact I think I heard someone say, "You're not going to let Eileen show you up, are you?"
Tomorrow, more of the same and then some.
Swift Water Rescue Course- Day 2
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Whoa. This was a rough day. Scenarios. I hate scenarios. They turn my stomach as I wait for when I'll be called on to make something happen.
Staff put themselves in various situations, foot entrapments with and without eddies to work in, head in the water, etc. Pinned boats with and without paddlers. It all reminds me of WFR. Lots of tension and worry about not pulling it off. It's over.
Sadly, this was our last day with Evan. Hopefully he can make it for graduation though his sustainable living may not allow, especially in May.
Whoa. This was a rough day. Scenarios. I hate scenarios. They turn my stomach as I wait for when I'll be called on to make something happen.
Staff put themselves in various situations, foot entrapments with and without eddies to work in, head in the water, etc. Pinned boats with and without paddlers. It all reminds me of WFR. Lots of tension and worry about not pulling it off. It's over.
Sadly, this was our last day with Evan. Hopefully he can make it for graduation though his sustainable living may not allow, especially in May.
Monday, April 12, 2010
Swift Water Rescue Course- Day 1
Monday, April 12, 2010
Met at GCC and watched a 1990s swift water rescue video. Got on the road mid morning heading to below the Zoar Gap.
First we practiced throwing throw bags on land in various ways; underarm, sidearm or a combo, while overhand and throwing as a football if you've earned a Heisman. We headed to the water in groups and took turns swimming in our yellow dry suits while the rest of our group tried to tag us with a good throw. After that we learned ways to cross the river, or at least ways to try and cross. One was using your paddle and holding it angled in the water in front of you giving you a 3rd point of contact as you sidle across. Then we tried a 3 and 4 buddy crossing by holding each others PFDs as we crossed and circled. The current was pushing and crossing became more difficult as we got into deeper water. The last variation we tried was the V-crossing. One person is in front using a paddle as a single person did. Then 2 people get behind and hold that person's PFD straps and 2 behind them and so one. Some communication is needed and we learned that people with less body fat are less inclined to float up and away. Our dry suits filled with air so when we did all lose our footing, some more than others were so buoyant that it made swimming and finding our footing more difficult. The only way to get rid of the Michelin Man look is to stick a couple of fingers in your neck gasket and squat down to let air out. But I was able to swim back to shore though the neck gasket and PFD kept getting in the way. And, without the PFD, I would have been pushed down the river in the current and a real rescue would have ensued.
Evan had us up the ante with actual swims and tethered rescues which in some instances are necessary but potentially dangerous given the possibility of ropes getting caught in rocks. The staff did a demo and Evan was the first to swim. The goal was to scout the best area to jump into--look for rocks to avoid. Jumping from a low rock would help him to actually get out into the current faster and toward an eddy behind a larger rock where he could rest or climb up on the rock. The jump has its own technique. . . try to look like a skydiver with limbs up and out and land on your chest which presumably has a PFD to protect it. We watched Evan jump in and hit chest first and then barrel roll to get through the eddy current to safe upstream waters. He climbed up on the larger rock and waited for the rest of the staff to be in place and then jumped back in again so that Beth could time her jump downriver to save him. Beth did the same chest thump jump and swam to Evan and hauled him in to shore.
We were all to cycle through as swimmers, tethered rescuers with back ups, and throw bag throwers. . . challenge by choice our option. My first job was as back-up to I forget who, and we needed to choose a stable place with good footing, maybe even sit down. Austin said I did it well. I was grateful that he was anchoring me because the current was strong as I held the two on the tether. Suddenly things moved fast. Austin or someone said we need a tethered swimmer and looked my way. Oh, well, yeah, I guess I'll be the tethered swimmer. Hooked up I got out on the rock and had little time to think about it as Katee Huggard jumped from her rock and needed rescue. I timed my jump and as far as I know my PFD hit the water first. I swam hard out to her and my timing was good so I didn't have to wait or catch up to her. I pulled her in with some kind of stroke, combo sidestroke and I don't know what else. At one point I think she may have taken some water before we got to shore. But I did it! Couldn't quite believe it and again, was wishing I had a video. Aaron said I could use his camera if I wanted to do it again and that was my plan but we ran out of time after getting everyone through.
Tomorrow we're getting into more technical rope and zip-line kinds of rescues and may be using boats. Felt good today and very different from last week. I think my realization of what was bothering me has helped. I'm looking forward to tomorrow even though it will involve ropes and knots. We'll be in the water a lot longer and it sure did feel much colder today than last week. We'll all have to wear more layers and maybe bring hot drinks. May the sun warm us all.
Meanwhile, 3 days of ropes course review this week and then my group leaves on Sunday for the sea kayaking trip. So much to get ready--food, clothes, still don't own a sleeping bag, and clothes for the AEE Regional Conference that some of us are going to directly from the kayaking trip. I'm going because I was awarded a scholarship otherwise I wouldn't be making the trip.
Oh, and then there's job search, too. . . .
Met at GCC and watched a 1990s swift water rescue video. Got on the road mid morning heading to below the Zoar Gap.
First we practiced throwing throw bags on land in various ways; underarm, sidearm or a combo, while overhand and throwing as a football if you've earned a Heisman. We headed to the water in groups and took turns swimming in our yellow dry suits while the rest of our group tried to tag us with a good throw. After that we learned ways to cross the river, or at least ways to try and cross. One was using your paddle and holding it angled in the water in front of you giving you a 3rd point of contact as you sidle across. Then we tried a 3 and 4 buddy crossing by holding each others PFDs as we crossed and circled. The current was pushing and crossing became more difficult as we got into deeper water. The last variation we tried was the V-crossing. One person is in front using a paddle as a single person did. Then 2 people get behind and hold that person's PFD straps and 2 behind them and so one. Some communication is needed and we learned that people with less body fat are less inclined to float up and away. Our dry suits filled with air so when we did all lose our footing, some more than others were so buoyant that it made swimming and finding our footing more difficult. The only way to get rid of the Michelin Man look is to stick a couple of fingers in your neck gasket and squat down to let air out. But I was able to swim back to shore though the neck gasket and PFD kept getting in the way. And, without the PFD, I would have been pushed down the river in the current and a real rescue would have ensued.
Evan had us up the ante with actual swims and tethered rescues which in some instances are necessary but potentially dangerous given the possibility of ropes getting caught in rocks. The staff did a demo and Evan was the first to swim. The goal was to scout the best area to jump into--look for rocks to avoid. Jumping from a low rock would help him to actually get out into the current faster and toward an eddy behind a larger rock where he could rest or climb up on the rock. The jump has its own technique. . . try to look like a skydiver with limbs up and out and land on your chest which presumably has a PFD to protect it. We watched Evan jump in and hit chest first and then barrel roll to get through the eddy current to safe upstream waters. He climbed up on the larger rock and waited for the rest of the staff to be in place and then jumped back in again so that Beth could time her jump downriver to save him. Beth did the same chest thump jump and swam to Evan and hauled him in to shore.
We were all to cycle through as swimmers, tethered rescuers with back ups, and throw bag throwers. . . challenge by choice our option. My first job was as back-up to I forget who, and we needed to choose a stable place with good footing, maybe even sit down. Austin said I did it well. I was grateful that he was anchoring me because the current was strong as I held the two on the tether. Suddenly things moved fast. Austin or someone said we need a tethered swimmer and looked my way. Oh, well, yeah, I guess I'll be the tethered swimmer. Hooked up I got out on the rock and had little time to think about it as Katee Huggard jumped from her rock and needed rescue. I timed my jump and as far as I know my PFD hit the water first. I swam hard out to her and my timing was good so I didn't have to wait or catch up to her. I pulled her in with some kind of stroke, combo sidestroke and I don't know what else. At one point I think she may have taken some water before we got to shore. But I did it! Couldn't quite believe it and again, was wishing I had a video. Aaron said I could use his camera if I wanted to do it again and that was my plan but we ran out of time after getting everyone through.
Tomorrow we're getting into more technical rope and zip-line kinds of rescues and may be using boats. Felt good today and very different from last week. I think my realization of what was bothering me has helped. I'm looking forward to tomorrow even though it will involve ropes and knots. We'll be in the water a lot longer and it sure did feel much colder today than last week. We'll all have to wear more layers and maybe bring hot drinks. May the sun warm us all.
Meanwhile, 3 days of ropes course review this week and then my group leaves on Sunday for the sea kayaking trip. So much to get ready--food, clothes, still don't own a sleeping bag, and clothes for the AEE Regional Conference that some of us are going to directly from the kayaking trip. I'm going because I was awarded a scholarship otherwise I wouldn't be making the trip.
Oh, and then there's job search, too. . . .
Sunday, April 11, 2010
White Water Canoe Cert Day 5--Nail it Day
Friday, April 9, 2010
Let's see, how did this day start? Slept lousy, dreaming and waking every hour thinking about nailing it. Started with more presentations and splitting into two groups to teach strokes. I don't think anyone in our group nailed the stroke teaching. I struggled particularly with a simple one, especially when someone whispered rotation. I thought I was forgetting to talk about rotation so added it in but there was no rotation in that stroke. I got nervous and blew it.
Coquette was told to lead the morning in Jen's boat and Erin led in sweep, maybe with Kristi. Great, I've got to wait until the afternoon for my leadership run. We were doing the choosing partners thing again and the only ones left were Kristi and me. Kristi said that we couldn't paddle together because we already had and have different things to work on. She wanted to be more aggressive. That led Evan to ask if that meant I don't want to be aggressive today, which I had never said. . . didn't look good given my need to nail it today. I intended to speak to him about it but never did. I'm glad that Kristi said that she needed to paddle with someone else today. I know the sense of feeling trapped in a boat for a day with someone whose energy just isn't working for you and feeling like you need to grit your teeth and pull yourself through. I should have spoken up as Kristi did. Clearly my energy wasn't working for her, I'm assuming some of it based on our previous up-river struggle with me in stern. I guess the aggressive reasoning may have been the gentle way she could rationalize a different partner though I've pretty much been as physically aggressive as others, going after the surf, etc. In the end, easy going "Average Joe" and I paired up which felt good to me.
We paddled for the morning with me in bow and Joe in stern. We reached the same wave that we played on yesterday and Evan encouraged us all to give it a go again. We were parked next to Mark so I asked him to explain his reasoning for telling me yesterday when to paddle and not. He said the bow shouldn't paddle in the smooth green water otherwise we might get out in front of it and the stern would go into the white water and get booted out. At least that's how I understood him. I didn't get the sense that Joe was very interested in surfing but we paddled hard to the wave and I angled slightly to the right and we had a long ride. I didn't tell Joe when or not to paddle but concentrated on keeping us on angle. Lots of hootin' and hollerin' as we slid along the length of the wave, not necessarily purposely but I made hard corrective sweeps to angle, sometimes surprised that they held us, and Joe paddled in whatever way felt right to him until he suggested we slide out so others could ride. We went back two more times and I think always having the longest ride of anyone. I felt strong, capable and had fun doing it with paddle high-fives each time. Evan made a joke about not having enough time for Joe and I to take another shot. Kate and Anna gave us the most hands-off/heads-on rides. Kate twirled her paddle while surfing and in other rides, Anna joined in and then did a half head stand in the bow while surfing. . . her yoga and capoeira pays off!
We had "The Funnel" coming up so Evan wanted to get through that and then stop for lunch. A few people had run "The Funnel" the day before. Joe and I opted out first and portaged--tough getting the boat up a steep, rocky 12' and through little saplings so that we could carry it downstream another 200' below "The Funnel."
The Funnel was described by Evan as a place that you should only run if you feel confident that you can run it and that you can swim the hard swim should you go in--highly likely. What the link picture doesn't show is Pinnacle Rock, river right, which you must circumvent or your boat will be caught and possibly crushed against it, nor does it show the shelf 20 feet beyond the rock that drops 3 or 4 feet, and the large churning hole at the bottom of the drop which could grab you and your boat, push you under and churn you around until it might spit you out into yet more turbulence. Where there's turbulence there's rocks. The picture does give you a sense of the waves that can swamp your boat at the end of an otherwise successful run, as happened to Jen and Erin. It was beautiful to see two women making this run and then the realization, as we stood with throw bags in hand, that at the end of their run they were swamping in the waves, capsizing, and in need of good throws. Happily, they're on video with Jen in the bow and Erin in the stern.
My bag missed Jen because my anchor person pulled me back as I threw. There is apparently technique to anchoring. Those of us not running today encouraged the daring to run all the boats down so that we didn't have to portage.
Here's Aaron and Evan's run with Aaron in the bow and Evan in the stern. They take a dunk and jump back in to finish.
One more tandem came down and flipped, the boat rushed by in the current heading downstream fast. Kate said I need someone to paddle! I said, "I'll go. . .unless you want someone else." How lame is that lack of confidence? "Get in" she said and we peeled out paddling hard after the boat that had momentarily hung up on some rocks. We chased it and, in stern, I had to steer it so we'd hit center to push it over to the shore. I grabbed its painter line and maybe a paddle and held on as we paddled in. Damn it was heavy in the pushing current. We got it to shore, a great feeling of capability washing over me. I told Kate that I love paddling with her. She makes me feel confident, safe, gives clear instructions, and it isn't a problem if I screw up. And she makes it wild fun! We high-fived into a balancing hug, our footing on slippery rocks. Meanwhile, Aaron and Jen came down on the other bank to get their boat. Kate was figuring out the simplest way to get both boats over and asked how I felt about ferrying the tandem back in the stern by myself. "I'll try it" was all I could offer as I thought damn, really? One person can paddle a tandem? I did it just fine and Aaron and Jen told me I looked very comfortable doing it. Okay, so chasing and capturing a runaway boat and paddling it by myself has to count for something today, I thought.
Once all the boats were down, Evan suggested that we finish the run and eat lunch during the van ride back because he needed time to meet with all of us about our Cert Level. I was assigned lead boat with Joe, Anna, also needing more leadership time, was assigned sweep with someone else. I realized right away that I blew the communication by giving them too much information. Okay, that will ding my rating but shake it off and keep going. Joe was suggesting that we eddy in here and there and then I told him that I really needed to make the calls because I was being judged. He was totally with me and let me have at it. . . but got frustrated a few times when he wanted more notice about rocks that sometimes I could see but often couldn't, so he could steer around. Communicating well with a paddle partner takes experience together or just plain experience. It got dicey around another rapid and determining which eddy we should get into to signal others about the next step. And then there was our ride river right into the boney rapids because I picked to the right of a big rock instead of left. Joe was yelling no go left but I hadn't seen it or heard him until too late. Not feeling the confidence of the Raquette River in September, I pretty much knew I had blown it at that point.
We pulled in and hauled boats up a steep hill with saplings, had a couple of other 5 minute presentations, loaded up, jumped into the van and ate lunch on the way home. Evan and Kate rode together so they could discuss the Cert Levels. I was feeling pretty miserable and ate just so I didn't have to talk to anyone because I knew I would start crying. Coquette noted that I was pretty quiet but I just gestured with a full mouth. I fought tears the whole way, not wanting to cry but wondering if just putting it out there to everyone would make it feel better.
Individuals went in one by one for their appointments and came out with Level III or II. It was very cool. I was 2nd last before Anna. I sat down and Evan had just about gotten the words out, "So where do you think . . ." and I said, "Oh, just tell me." I didn't nail it today so it was as we talked about the day before. I could go for Level II when Kate is at our canoeing field work in a few weeks but they said that might make me too nervous to have a good field work. Evan suggested I might also volunteer to help him teach a course for a day and he'd get to see me then. Or, I could pay him for .5 day and he could test me then. Whichever way it goes, I won't have canoed for at least a few weeks or longer. Not good for my confidence or muscle memory. But, maybe the sea kayaking trip will up the ante and give me more confidence.
I realize what is happening to me. Though I've been in formal learning situations for much of my life, this year is heightening the comparison to others and it's triggering really old stuff, old feelings from grade school that required perfection. As I wrote in December about ruminating on mistakes, mistakes were shameful. Now, whenever I can't do as well as others in a particular way, shame is what I feel. I'm constantly trying to avoid mistakes and shame which then makes me so young and afraid. I haven't felt like this in so long, or at least not for such a consistent length of time. What a waste of energy. I get sucked into it before I even know it. Somehow, I need to keep my adult and accomplished self in the forefront. My life has had many successes and in all of those I have had to learn from mistakes. The shame now is that at my age I am still dealing with these unresolved issues. Let it go gently and take on my adulthood again. This is supposed to be my life changing year.
Let's see, how did this day start? Slept lousy, dreaming and waking every hour thinking about nailing it. Started with more presentations and splitting into two groups to teach strokes. I don't think anyone in our group nailed the stroke teaching. I struggled particularly with a simple one, especially when someone whispered rotation. I thought I was forgetting to talk about rotation so added it in but there was no rotation in that stroke. I got nervous and blew it.
Coquette was told to lead the morning in Jen's boat and Erin led in sweep, maybe with Kristi. Great, I've got to wait until the afternoon for my leadership run. We were doing the choosing partners thing again and the only ones left were Kristi and me. Kristi said that we couldn't paddle together because we already had and have different things to work on. She wanted to be more aggressive. That led Evan to ask if that meant I don't want to be aggressive today, which I had never said. . . didn't look good given my need to nail it today. I intended to speak to him about it but never did. I'm glad that Kristi said that she needed to paddle with someone else today. I know the sense of feeling trapped in a boat for a day with someone whose energy just isn't working for you and feeling like you need to grit your teeth and pull yourself through. I should have spoken up as Kristi did. Clearly my energy wasn't working for her, I'm assuming some of it based on our previous up-river struggle with me in stern. I guess the aggressive reasoning may have been the gentle way she could rationalize a different partner though I've pretty much been as physically aggressive as others, going after the surf, etc. In the end, easy going "Average Joe" and I paired up which felt good to me.
We paddled for the morning with me in bow and Joe in stern. We reached the same wave that we played on yesterday and Evan encouraged us all to give it a go again. We were parked next to Mark so I asked him to explain his reasoning for telling me yesterday when to paddle and not. He said the bow shouldn't paddle in the smooth green water otherwise we might get out in front of it and the stern would go into the white water and get booted out. At least that's how I understood him. I didn't get the sense that Joe was very interested in surfing but we paddled hard to the wave and I angled slightly to the right and we had a long ride. I didn't tell Joe when or not to paddle but concentrated on keeping us on angle. Lots of hootin' and hollerin' as we slid along the length of the wave, not necessarily purposely but I made hard corrective sweeps to angle, sometimes surprised that they held us, and Joe paddled in whatever way felt right to him until he suggested we slide out so others could ride. We went back two more times and I think always having the longest ride of anyone. I felt strong, capable and had fun doing it with paddle high-fives each time. Evan made a joke about not having enough time for Joe and I to take another shot. Kate and Anna gave us the most hands-off/heads-on rides. Kate twirled her paddle while surfing and in other rides, Anna joined in and then did a half head stand in the bow while surfing. . . her yoga and capoeira pays off!
We had "The Funnel" coming up so Evan wanted to get through that and then stop for lunch. A few people had run "The Funnel" the day before. Joe and I opted out first and portaged--tough getting the boat up a steep, rocky 12' and through little saplings so that we could carry it downstream another 200' below "The Funnel."
The Funnel was described by Evan as a place that you should only run if you feel confident that you can run it and that you can swim the hard swim should you go in--highly likely. What the link picture doesn't show is Pinnacle Rock, river right, which you must circumvent or your boat will be caught and possibly crushed against it, nor does it show the shelf 20 feet beyond the rock that drops 3 or 4 feet, and the large churning hole at the bottom of the drop which could grab you and your boat, push you under and churn you around until it might spit you out into yet more turbulence. Where there's turbulence there's rocks. The picture does give you a sense of the waves that can swamp your boat at the end of an otherwise successful run, as happened to Jen and Erin. It was beautiful to see two women making this run and then the realization, as we stood with throw bags in hand, that at the end of their run they were swamping in the waves, capsizing, and in need of good throws. Happily, they're on video with Jen in the bow and Erin in the stern.
My bag missed Jen because my anchor person pulled me back as I threw. There is apparently technique to anchoring. Those of us not running today encouraged the daring to run all the boats down so that we didn't have to portage.
Here's Aaron and Evan's run with Aaron in the bow and Evan in the stern. They take a dunk and jump back in to finish.
One more tandem came down and flipped, the boat rushed by in the current heading downstream fast. Kate said I need someone to paddle! I said, "I'll go. . .unless you want someone else." How lame is that lack of confidence? "Get in" she said and we peeled out paddling hard after the boat that had momentarily hung up on some rocks. We chased it and, in stern, I had to steer it so we'd hit center to push it over to the shore. I grabbed its painter line and maybe a paddle and held on as we paddled in. Damn it was heavy in the pushing current. We got it to shore, a great feeling of capability washing over me. I told Kate that I love paddling with her. She makes me feel confident, safe, gives clear instructions, and it isn't a problem if I screw up. And she makes it wild fun! We high-fived into a balancing hug, our footing on slippery rocks. Meanwhile, Aaron and Jen came down on the other bank to get their boat. Kate was figuring out the simplest way to get both boats over and asked how I felt about ferrying the tandem back in the stern by myself. "I'll try it" was all I could offer as I thought damn, really? One person can paddle a tandem? I did it just fine and Aaron and Jen told me I looked very comfortable doing it. Okay, so chasing and capturing a runaway boat and paddling it by myself has to count for something today, I thought.
Once all the boats were down, Evan suggested that we finish the run and eat lunch during the van ride back because he needed time to meet with all of us about our Cert Level. I was assigned lead boat with Joe, Anna, also needing more leadership time, was assigned sweep with someone else. I realized right away that I blew the communication by giving them too much information. Okay, that will ding my rating but shake it off and keep going. Joe was suggesting that we eddy in here and there and then I told him that I really needed to make the calls because I was being judged. He was totally with me and let me have at it. . . but got frustrated a few times when he wanted more notice about rocks that sometimes I could see but often couldn't, so he could steer around. Communicating well with a paddle partner takes experience together or just plain experience. It got dicey around another rapid and determining which eddy we should get into to signal others about the next step. And then there was our ride river right into the boney rapids because I picked to the right of a big rock instead of left. Joe was yelling no go left but I hadn't seen it or heard him until too late. Not feeling the confidence of the Raquette River in September, I pretty much knew I had blown it at that point.
We pulled in and hauled boats up a steep hill with saplings, had a couple of other 5 minute presentations, loaded up, jumped into the van and ate lunch on the way home. Evan and Kate rode together so they could discuss the Cert Levels. I was feeling pretty miserable and ate just so I didn't have to talk to anyone because I knew I would start crying. Coquette noted that I was pretty quiet but I just gestured with a full mouth. I fought tears the whole way, not wanting to cry but wondering if just putting it out there to everyone would make it feel better.
Individuals went in one by one for their appointments and came out with Level III or II. It was very cool. I was 2nd last before Anna. I sat down and Evan had just about gotten the words out, "So where do you think . . ." and I said, "Oh, just tell me." I didn't nail it today so it was as we talked about the day before. I could go for Level II when Kate is at our canoeing field work in a few weeks but they said that might make me too nervous to have a good field work. Evan suggested I might also volunteer to help him teach a course for a day and he'd get to see me then. Or, I could pay him for .5 day and he could test me then. Whichever way it goes, I won't have canoed for at least a few weeks or longer. Not good for my confidence or muscle memory. But, maybe the sea kayaking trip will up the ante and give me more confidence.
I realize what is happening to me. Though I've been in formal learning situations for much of my life, this year is heightening the comparison to others and it's triggering really old stuff, old feelings from grade school that required perfection. As I wrote in December about ruminating on mistakes, mistakes were shameful. Now, whenever I can't do as well as others in a particular way, shame is what I feel. I'm constantly trying to avoid mistakes and shame which then makes me so young and afraid. I haven't felt like this in so long, or at least not for such a consistent length of time. What a waste of energy. I get sucked into it before I even know it. Somehow, I need to keep my adult and accomplished self in the forefront. My life has had many successes and in all of those I have had to learn from mistakes. The shame now is that at my age I am still dealing with these unresolved issues. Let it go gently and take on my adulthood again. This is supposed to be my life changing year.
White Water Canoe Cert Day 4
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Have had a few days off between posts so need to dig back in my brain. At the Millers River again.
Started the day with more presentations. At some point I said that I was going to make an effort to be more in the fun than I had been.
Mark has been a raft guide for five or six years. He showed us some video in class of him taking his family down some rafting rapids. Wild stuff. Today we paddled together. He wanted to start in the bow to practice different strokes from rafting so I took the stern. I'm not sure why, but it was a better day in the stern than when Kristi and I were paddling and I struggled so much steering us up river. As usual, we switched places after lunch and I was in the bow. We found an area with a good surfing wave and Evan suggested we all play in it for a while. Mark and I paddled hard to get into the wave and then he kept telling me to "paddle hard" or "stop paddling." I followed directions but didn't really know why what I was doing was working. But we had some good rides and it was fun.
We stopped for an early lunch and more presentations. Mark and Jen were doing their 20 minutes on River Obstacles so we split up with our paddling groups. Jen's group had to put their gear back on--full suits, PFDs and helmets because they were staying along the river. Beth called to me to stay with their group and in my hesitation waltz, finally heading their way, got busted for falling prey to peer pressure. Okay, I go with my group and am treated because Mark takes us up on the bridge where we can enjoy the breeze without all our paraphernalia on. They do need to get the gear on when we go back to the bank for my presentation on Fundamentals of River Current. Mikey makes a suggestion that we stand in the water which works for me. Cools us off and gives us a feel of the current. So, my presentation looked good on paper. In an effort to keep it concise, I cut out some important info and messed it up in reality. People didn't have enough info for the assignment to find factors related to river current. I turned it around easily enough and just threw the questions out to them for answers. But Mikey and Erin deliberately concocted a lousy answer for the volume question and, while I didn't really understand it, I let it go and found other ways to incorporate volume. I also was able to bring in the side view of current that I took from the ACA Manual. Evan told me I had it wrong which surprised me because I thought I had it down. I checked it today and what I said is what their diagram shows and states. Sometime I'll have to ask him about that.
At some point on the river, Evan told us that we were coming to some rapids that had both IIs and IIIs and we could choose which to run--IIIs on river left and IIs down the center. I asked what the difference was and I believe it was the difficulty and the danger. I sort of tossed out that IIs were fine with me but in my mind I had some sense that I might change my mind so I could say that I ran a III. And, I wasn't the only one in the boat so didn't want to decide for Mark. My regret is that it came up fast and we went through the II--it looked like the wilder and more fun ride from what I could see--curling waves that bounced us around and dumped in the boat. Most everyone else went through the III which I remember thinking had much less water and was bonier--more rocks. I find that combination just annoying rather than fun. Oh, well. I whooped it up through the II just for the fun of it.
We also hit more rapids on a steeper gradient followed by an immediate, sharp curve to river right and Evan asked us to eddy up and signal back to stay river left to use the deeper water and make the turn. Evan said to pump the signal if people weren't going left soon enough. Just a short distance around that bend was the take out and the end of our day.
Evan had been meeting with people during the day to let them know where they were in his assessment and what they needed to do to meet their cert level goal. I caught up with him at the boat house after unloading. I'm on the edge of Level 2 but may only get Level 1. I need to pull it all together tomorrow with another run at leading the group and nailing my strokes. If I can't pull it together, I'm close enough that he would be willing to hold the Level 2 open until I can go for it again soon. The person he sees on the river is different than the person he talks to and he thinks it's a mental block. He says I'm a strong paddler and often nail what I need to do if I relax and am not so serious. Just pull it together tomorrow.
All in all, I made a point of focusing on the fun and while I may have been the only one to notice, that needs to be enough for now. Tomorrow, I need to nail it down fully.
Have had a few days off between posts so need to dig back in my brain. At the Millers River again.
Started the day with more presentations. At some point I said that I was going to make an effort to be more in the fun than I had been.
Mark has been a raft guide for five or six years. He showed us some video in class of him taking his family down some rafting rapids. Wild stuff. Today we paddled together. He wanted to start in the bow to practice different strokes from rafting so I took the stern. I'm not sure why, but it was a better day in the stern than when Kristi and I were paddling and I struggled so much steering us up river. As usual, we switched places after lunch and I was in the bow. We found an area with a good surfing wave and Evan suggested we all play in it for a while. Mark and I paddled hard to get into the wave and then he kept telling me to "paddle hard" or "stop paddling." I followed directions but didn't really know why what I was doing was working. But we had some good rides and it was fun.
We stopped for an early lunch and more presentations. Mark and Jen were doing their 20 minutes on River Obstacles so we split up with our paddling groups. Jen's group had to put their gear back on--full suits, PFDs and helmets because they were staying along the river. Beth called to me to stay with their group and in my hesitation waltz, finally heading their way, got busted for falling prey to peer pressure. Okay, I go with my group and am treated because Mark takes us up on the bridge where we can enjoy the breeze without all our paraphernalia on. They do need to get the gear on when we go back to the bank for my presentation on Fundamentals of River Current. Mikey makes a suggestion that we stand in the water which works for me. Cools us off and gives us a feel of the current. So, my presentation looked good on paper. In an effort to keep it concise, I cut out some important info and messed it up in reality. People didn't have enough info for the assignment to find factors related to river current. I turned it around easily enough and just threw the questions out to them for answers. But Mikey and Erin deliberately concocted a lousy answer for the volume question and, while I didn't really understand it, I let it go and found other ways to incorporate volume. I also was able to bring in the side view of current that I took from the ACA Manual. Evan told me I had it wrong which surprised me because I thought I had it down. I checked it today and what I said is what their diagram shows and states. Sometime I'll have to ask him about that.
At some point on the river, Evan told us that we were coming to some rapids that had both IIs and IIIs and we could choose which to run--IIIs on river left and IIs down the center. I asked what the difference was and I believe it was the difficulty and the danger. I sort of tossed out that IIs were fine with me but in my mind I had some sense that I might change my mind so I could say that I ran a III. And, I wasn't the only one in the boat so didn't want to decide for Mark. My regret is that it came up fast and we went through the II--it looked like the wilder and more fun ride from what I could see--curling waves that bounced us around and dumped in the boat. Most everyone else went through the III which I remember thinking had much less water and was bonier--more rocks. I find that combination just annoying rather than fun. Oh, well. I whooped it up through the II just for the fun of it.
We also hit more rapids on a steeper gradient followed by an immediate, sharp curve to river right and Evan asked us to eddy up and signal back to stay river left to use the deeper water and make the turn. Evan said to pump the signal if people weren't going left soon enough. Just a short distance around that bend was the take out and the end of our day.
Evan had been meeting with people during the day to let them know where they were in his assessment and what they needed to do to meet their cert level goal. I caught up with him at the boat house after unloading. I'm on the edge of Level 2 but may only get Level 1. I need to pull it all together tomorrow with another run at leading the group and nailing my strokes. If I can't pull it together, I'm close enough that he would be willing to hold the Level 2 open until I can go for it again soon. The person he sees on the river is different than the person he talks to and he thinks it's a mental block. He says I'm a strong paddler and often nail what I need to do if I relax and am not so serious. Just pull it together tomorrow.
All in all, I made a point of focusing on the fun and while I may have been the only one to notice, that needs to be enough for now. Tomorrow, I need to nail it down fully.
Thursday, April 8, 2010
White Water Canoe Cert Day 3
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Met at the boathouse and heard Joe's presentation on boat construction, the one I initially passed on. As always, Joe gave a good pres despite only getting the topic the day before. Headed out to the Millers River again but a different spot--again, below a waste water treatment plant for a business! Didn't have the odor of yesterday's.
Evan had us start with leadership boats, two people, one in lead boat and one in sweep to take the group downriver. They would do the riverside safety review, scout out the river and bring us down doing different maneuvers into eddys and ferrying across. Over the course of the day, we had 2 or 3 rescues and the leader boats would be the bump or tow boats, unless someone else happened to be in a better location.
Now the hard truth to face. My fear and trepidation is no fun. For anyone. I've been focused on what I can and have accomplished over this year, but how much fun have I had doing it? Often I go through deep processing to push myself through fear to accomplish a challenge but I don't so much feel or show the fun of what I've done. And sometimes it just wasn't what I'd call fun but truly about the accomplishment. But now we're out on the water. It's not a place I'm comfortable being when I'm underwater and flipping over typically leads to under. And as I told Evan yesterday, I need reinforcement and repetition to get something. Even when I play cards, if I haven't played in a while, I need a review of the rules and then I'm good to go. Cards is a simplistic example given that the worst I could do is lose some change but I typically just play for fun. Running a river in a tippy canoe is a thrill but I don't typically show that I'm stoked by the run but more that I did it well enough that I didn't cause us to flip. . . but more than that. Yesterday I paddled with Evan in the morning and Kate in the afternoon until I did the last short run as a sweep leader. I feel confident paddling with our instructors. They give me clear instructions that I trust. I know that they know what they're doing. They trust that I really know what to do if, as Evan says, I don't think about it too much. And if I screw up, they're accomplished enough that I don't rattle them like I do other students. As the day progressed, I did feel much more confident of what to do. Kate was all about getting out to surf in the class 2s and I, being in stern, needed to keep us on course to hit the spot we needed to ride over or slip down into the wave. We all were ferrying through the curling and spraying current to the opposite shore, or peeling out into the current to do S and C turns. But their ability is what gives me confidence that I can do this. As Erin and Aaron good-naturedly mocked Beth and me, "Eileenie, you can dooo this!"
So, when I don't have a student paddling partner and everyone else does, it's because I don't have fun. Who wants to be with that energy when you're heading out for thrills. I wouldn't. So see what you can do today to be more in the thrill and fun rather than the fear and accomplishment. You've come a long way from when you started this week but you can break through some walls still. Go have fun today--or show and share it! It's not like you don't know how to have fun. Don't take it so seriously. If I were with friends just hangin' for fun I'd feel it and show it. Oh, damn, I'm going to say it. Just do it! Now get out of here before you're late.
Met at the boathouse and heard Joe's presentation on boat construction, the one I initially passed on. As always, Joe gave a good pres despite only getting the topic the day before. Headed out to the Millers River again but a different spot--again, below a waste water treatment plant for a business! Didn't have the odor of yesterday's.
Evan had us start with leadership boats, two people, one in lead boat and one in sweep to take the group downriver. They would do the riverside safety review, scout out the river and bring us down doing different maneuvers into eddys and ferrying across. Over the course of the day, we had 2 or 3 rescues and the leader boats would be the bump or tow boats, unless someone else happened to be in a better location.
Now the hard truth to face. My fear and trepidation is no fun. For anyone. I've been focused on what I can and have accomplished over this year, but how much fun have I had doing it? Often I go through deep processing to push myself through fear to accomplish a challenge but I don't so much feel or show the fun of what I've done. And sometimes it just wasn't what I'd call fun but truly about the accomplishment. But now we're out on the water. It's not a place I'm comfortable being when I'm underwater and flipping over typically leads to under. And as I told Evan yesterday, I need reinforcement and repetition to get something. Even when I play cards, if I haven't played in a while, I need a review of the rules and then I'm good to go. Cards is a simplistic example given that the worst I could do is lose some change but I typically just play for fun. Running a river in a tippy canoe is a thrill but I don't typically show that I'm stoked by the run but more that I did it well enough that I didn't cause us to flip. . . but more than that. Yesterday I paddled with Evan in the morning and Kate in the afternoon until I did the last short run as a sweep leader. I feel confident paddling with our instructors. They give me clear instructions that I trust. I know that they know what they're doing. They trust that I really know what to do if, as Evan says, I don't think about it too much. And if I screw up, they're accomplished enough that I don't rattle them like I do other students. As the day progressed, I did feel much more confident of what to do. Kate was all about getting out to surf in the class 2s and I, being in stern, needed to keep us on course to hit the spot we needed to ride over or slip down into the wave. We all were ferrying through the curling and spraying current to the opposite shore, or peeling out into the current to do S and C turns. But their ability is what gives me confidence that I can do this. As Erin and Aaron good-naturedly mocked Beth and me, "Eileenie, you can dooo this!"
So, when I don't have a student paddling partner and everyone else does, it's because I don't have fun. Who wants to be with that energy when you're heading out for thrills. I wouldn't. So see what you can do today to be more in the thrill and fun rather than the fear and accomplishment. You've come a long way from when you started this week but you can break through some walls still. Go have fun today--or show and share it! It's not like you don't know how to have fun. Don't take it so seriously. If I were with friends just hangin' for fun I'd feel it and show it. Oh, damn, I'm going to say it. Just do it! Now get out of here before you're late.
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
White Water Canoe Cert Day 2
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Met at the boathouse and I was busted for already being dressed in my drysuit. . . stay ahead of the game. Apologized to Evan for being a nudge yesterday when I couldn't get things right. He busted me for apologizing and said I'm doing fine for the cert course and to think back to the fall when I had yet to step into a canoe. Yeah, okay.
Heard a couple of presentations before heading out to Orange--at the waste water treatment plant. What?! It had calm water where we could practice eddy and ferry turns. Damn, we weren't expecting that. The initial odor faded as our olfactory senses were numbed. Aaron was asked to be the throw bag volunteer and he good-naturedly made a splash into the relatively clear water. Evan told us to grin (like baleen) 'cause we might pick up a piece of corn in the water. Eeeww Thankfully, Evan and Beth volunteered to be the capsized victims for the bump & tow rescue drills.
We ate an early lunch, had a few more presentations including my 5 minute "Common Paddling Injuries" that went okay but would have been better had I remembered to mention that a way to avoid injuries is to keep your form in the "paddlers box." Anna also showed us how to toss throw bags for rescues. Then we launched. Aaron and I paddled together but I made a miserable stern paddler. Couldn't do ferry crossing into the current. We kept getting swept away despite my sweeps that weren't holding us. Then we went up to the bridge area to do peel outs and eddy turns and I still wasn't getting the stern right. After a while Evan asked if he could paddle with Aaron a while who had asked early on for some one-on-one instruction since he's mainly been paddling a solo. Beth had me switch out with Erin to paddle bow with Kristi. I had to learn the bow turning stroke, the duffek, again and was struggling with that until Beth stopped me and did some hands-on teaching of her own. Helped a lot and I felt like I was starting to get it again. Then we switched positions and I had the same trouble with the stern. At one point, we tried for probably 10 minutes to paddle upstream to the bridge but I kept switching from a hard forward to re-adjust direction which made us then lose ground. I was exhausted and pulled a muscle in my back. Kristi was doing her best not to get frustrated and hang-in with me. Evan finally came down and had us switch up so we could get up stream. I powered and Kristi steered.
Then we split into 2 groups and Kristi and I went with Evan to practice teaching how to ferry. We all took turns but there wasn't enough time to switch and practice teaching the S turns. We moved into the bump and tow scenarios and then it was time to head out.
Overall, felt better today than yesterday but still have a lot to learn to be certified. Tomorrow we watch the video that Evan shot. Joy.
Met at the boathouse and I was busted for already being dressed in my drysuit. . . stay ahead of the game. Apologized to Evan for being a nudge yesterday when I couldn't get things right. He busted me for apologizing and said I'm doing fine for the cert course and to think back to the fall when I had yet to step into a canoe. Yeah, okay.
Heard a couple of presentations before heading out to Orange--at the waste water treatment plant. What?! It had calm water where we could practice eddy and ferry turns. Damn, we weren't expecting that. The initial odor faded as our olfactory senses were numbed. Aaron was asked to be the throw bag volunteer and he good-naturedly made a splash into the relatively clear water. Evan told us to grin (like baleen) 'cause we might pick up a piece of corn in the water. Eeeww Thankfully, Evan and Beth volunteered to be the capsized victims for the bump & tow rescue drills.
We ate an early lunch, had a few more presentations including my 5 minute "Common Paddling Injuries" that went okay but would have been better had I remembered to mention that a way to avoid injuries is to keep your form in the "paddlers box." Anna also showed us how to toss throw bags for rescues. Then we launched. Aaron and I paddled together but I made a miserable stern paddler. Couldn't do ferry crossing into the current. We kept getting swept away despite my sweeps that weren't holding us. Then we went up to the bridge area to do peel outs and eddy turns and I still wasn't getting the stern right. After a while Evan asked if he could paddle with Aaron a while who had asked early on for some one-on-one instruction since he's mainly been paddling a solo. Beth had me switch out with Erin to paddle bow with Kristi. I had to learn the bow turning stroke, the duffek, again and was struggling with that until Beth stopped me and did some hands-on teaching of her own. Helped a lot and I felt like I was starting to get it again. Then we switched positions and I had the same trouble with the stern. At one point, we tried for probably 10 minutes to paddle upstream to the bridge but I kept switching from a hard forward to re-adjust direction which made us then lose ground. I was exhausted and pulled a muscle in my back. Kristi was doing her best not to get frustrated and hang-in with me. Evan finally came down and had us switch up so we could get up stream. I powered and Kristi steered.
Then we split into 2 groups and Kristi and I went with Evan to practice teaching how to ferry. We all took turns but there wasn't enough time to switch and practice teaching the S turns. We moved into the bump and tow scenarios and then it was time to head out.
Overall, felt better today than yesterday but still have a lot to learn to be certified. Tomorrow we watch the video that Evan shot. Joy.
Monday, April 5, 2010
White Water Canoe Certification Day 1
Monday, April 5, 2010
While checking the American Whitewater website for river conditions, I saw that the little white water area at the Holyoke Dinosaur Tracks is actually called Holyoke (Wave-o-Saurus). Very funny. Had no idea it had a cool name. We checked readings and the best shot today was up near Keene, NH on the Ashuelot River.
Once we arrived and unloaded, set up the shuttle and ate a quick lunch, we launched in an area of class II. Anna and I were partners in a tandem and within 5 minutes, hit a rock broadside, went swimming and bounced off the rocks down the river. I kept holding on to the canoe and somehow my paddle. After a while someone suggested I let go of the canoe so I could maneuver better toward the bank. I remembered the defensive swimming, keeping "nose and toes" up so as not to get a foot stuck in rocks. That's when I could feel the bouncing off the rocks as the current swept us down river. Joe and Mark were on the side and Mark threw a throw bag to me that helped me pull in and climb up on a rock. Anna went a little further down and had help from Evan. We'll feel it for sure tomorrow though I can feel some bruises and stiffening tonight. I banged up my left hand knuckles and one was cut. I kept dipping them in water when we would stop, hoping the cold would keep any swelling down. Though, I was surprised that the water didn't feel as cold as I expected. In fact, we were all warm enough that it felt refreshing--granted we have our dry suits on.
I hadn't been feeling very confident about my strokes and which to use when and told Evan when he checked in with us both to see how we were doing physically and emotionally. It wasn't an ideal starting point for the day but he told us it would calm down in a short distance. I was frustrated with what felt like I had blanked on what I had known in the Adirondacks after a week of paddling. Just don't feel it now and my frustration was obvious.
Anna got an opportunity to try Beth's solo and she came and paddled with me. She made it fun but I was still struggling emotionally to pull myself out of it. Damn.
Tomorrow we meet at the boathouse at 8:30. Need to bring our presentation outlines.
While checking the American Whitewater website for river conditions, I saw that the little white water area at the Holyoke Dinosaur Tracks is actually called Holyoke (Wave-o-Saurus). Very funny. Had no idea it had a cool name. We checked readings and the best shot today was up near Keene, NH on the Ashuelot River.
Once we arrived and unloaded, set up the shuttle and ate a quick lunch, we launched in an area of class II. Anna and I were partners in a tandem and within 5 minutes, hit a rock broadside, went swimming and bounced off the rocks down the river. I kept holding on to the canoe and somehow my paddle. After a while someone suggested I let go of the canoe so I could maneuver better toward the bank. I remembered the defensive swimming, keeping "nose and toes" up so as not to get a foot stuck in rocks. That's when I could feel the bouncing off the rocks as the current swept us down river. Joe and Mark were on the side and Mark threw a throw bag to me that helped me pull in and climb up on a rock. Anna went a little further down and had help from Evan. We'll feel it for sure tomorrow though I can feel some bruises and stiffening tonight. I banged up my left hand knuckles and one was cut. I kept dipping them in water when we would stop, hoping the cold would keep any swelling down. Though, I was surprised that the water didn't feel as cold as I expected. In fact, we were all warm enough that it felt refreshing--granted we have our dry suits on.
I hadn't been feeling very confident about my strokes and which to use when and told Evan when he checked in with us both to see how we were doing physically and emotionally. It wasn't an ideal starting point for the day but he told us it would calm down in a short distance. I was frustrated with what felt like I had blanked on what I had known in the Adirondacks after a week of paddling. Just don't feel it now and my frustration was obvious.
Anna got an opportunity to try Beth's solo and she came and paddled with me. She made it fun but I was still struggling emotionally to pull myself out of it. Damn.
Tomorrow we meet at the boathouse at 8:30. Need to bring our presentation outlines.
Friday, April 2, 2010
Coastal Kayaking Planning Day
Friday, April 2, 2010
Started the morning talking about the Greenfield Recorder article about the white water canoeing this week. Austin and Beth want us all to know what really happened and was said, so that if it comes up in conversation, we'll know the facts which were not reported. Apparently someone saw our group on the river and after a recent problem in the swollen river, called authorities. It was downhill from there with Austin and Beth having to explain that our group was training for such conditions.
We're supposed to change the name of our upcoming trip from sea kayaking to coastal kayaking because it sounds more accessible to the general public. After looking at the charts, we'll have lots of protected water to paddle around in but it looks to me like it will have an ocean feel. Land and islands are well separated and one of the islands is further out, less protected. We won't just be cruising along the shore.We'll stay at Thief Island which is the less protected island, and I forget the name of the more inland island. When I'm not so sleepy, I'll check it out further.
Today was planning day. Beth assigned pairs to research basic info on varied topics just to give us an elementary base. Jen and I checked out navigation and charts. Kind of fun. We also settled all our topics for the trip. I had selected Tides and Currents for my 15 minute and have Rules of the Nautical Road for my 5 minute. We can be asked at any time on the trip to present. We also need to come up with a nature topic that we can share with everyone. And, I'll need to do my LNT presentation on disposing of human waste properly. It'll have a different twist being on water. We can't dig holes on the islands because they're too fragile so will use the RestStop2 Bags that were donated. Pooping in a bag--yet another new experience!
Talked about the factors that will actually impact a group of kayakers vs boaters in larger vehicles. Some things won't matter much to us, for example, the depth readings on the charts since we could float in 2" of water if need be. But, we'll need to be on top of wind and waves. Beth said swells develop from out in the ocean and aren't typically going to flip a kayak. It's the chop and bigger waves that will be the tricks. And we'll have to avoid mud flats so time our launches and returns with the tides. Lots to learn!
Biked after school and some work study tonight. I don't know Greenfield well and tried to find the road we used last week to get to the Green River. Missed it but was out for about an hour. I need to make sure I get regular exercise to build and maintain strength and stamina for this trip.
Also, next week we'll be doing white water kayaking all week and will potentially come out of it with some level of certification. Mike and Conway got level 3 today. Mike was stoked. I should get level 1 if not level 2.
Started the morning talking about the Greenfield Recorder article about the white water canoeing this week. Austin and Beth want us all to know what really happened and was said, so that if it comes up in conversation, we'll know the facts which were not reported. Apparently someone saw our group on the river and after a recent problem in the swollen river, called authorities. It was downhill from there with Austin and Beth having to explain that our group was training for such conditions.
We're supposed to change the name of our upcoming trip from sea kayaking to coastal kayaking because it sounds more accessible to the general public. After looking at the charts, we'll have lots of protected water to paddle around in but it looks to me like it will have an ocean feel. Land and islands are well separated and one of the islands is further out, less protected. We won't just be cruising along the shore.We'll stay at Thief Island which is the less protected island, and I forget the name of the more inland island. When I'm not so sleepy, I'll check it out further.
Today was planning day. Beth assigned pairs to research basic info on varied topics just to give us an elementary base. Jen and I checked out navigation and charts. Kind of fun. We also settled all our topics for the trip. I had selected Tides and Currents for my 15 minute and have Rules of the Nautical Road for my 5 minute. We can be asked at any time on the trip to present. We also need to come up with a nature topic that we can share with everyone. And, I'll need to do my LNT presentation on disposing of human waste properly. It'll have a different twist being on water. We can't dig holes on the islands because they're too fragile so will use the RestStop2 Bags that were donated. Pooping in a bag--yet another new experience!
Talked about the factors that will actually impact a group of kayakers vs boaters in larger vehicles. Some things won't matter much to us, for example, the depth readings on the charts since we could float in 2" of water if need be. But, we'll need to be on top of wind and waves. Beth said swells develop from out in the ocean and aren't typically going to flip a kayak. It's the chop and bigger waves that will be the tricks. And we'll have to avoid mud flats so time our launches and returns with the tides. Lots to learn!
Biked after school and some work study tonight. I don't know Greenfield well and tried to find the road we used last week to get to the Green River. Missed it but was out for about an hour. I need to make sure I get regular exercise to build and maintain strength and stamina for this trip.
Also, next week we'll be doing white water kayaking all week and will potentially come out of it with some level of certification. Mike and Conway got level 3 today. Mike was stoked. I should get level 1 if not level 2.
Off Day #2--Study!
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Didn't sleep-in but did start reading early and paid some bills. How mundane. The sun pulled me out of the house so I decided to read up at the Smith Boat House. Had it to myself with the exception of the random boat borrowers. Canoes and kayaks were lent. It was especially hard to watch a young straight couple paddle in stereotypical roles. She giggling and at least acting inept, he taking charge, throwing water off the back of his paddle strokes. Can't say I've ever seen a style quite like it. I wanted to shake them both--tell her to get a grip and grab a paddle, and show him how to have a little finesse. Then have them paddle with equity. Damn, I sound like a snob.
But back to the sun. It felt wonderful. In fact, it got too hot sitting on the deck so I found some partial shade under a leafless tree but it was enough. I spent several hours by the pond reading Shelley Johnson's Woman's Guide to Sea Kayaking. I started from the basics and it was a great review that let me know that I have actually learned something, and then I read bits that filled in holes or added nuances. I was just getting into the Tides and Currents which is my trip topic. It's pretty complicated so I'll have a lot to study. I may google to find a simplified grammar grade level since we are supposed to present to a beginners.
Got an email back from a resume I had sent out. It read, "Regrettably, I just filled the position. My final offer has been accepted. Timing is everything!" I wrote back and asked if she could tell me if, given that I'm new to the field but have life experience, would she have given my resume serious consideration. She wrote back and said definitely would have considered it seriously and would have interviewed me. That felt good to know. As Beth says, my confidence level is not on par with my competence level. Nothing new there but I do need to work on changing that. Need to send more out this weekend along with prep of all the reading and presentations.
Didn't sleep-in but did start reading early and paid some bills. How mundane. The sun pulled me out of the house so I decided to read up at the Smith Boat House. Had it to myself with the exception of the random boat borrowers. Canoes and kayaks were lent. It was especially hard to watch a young straight couple paddle in stereotypical roles. She giggling and at least acting inept, he taking charge, throwing water off the back of his paddle strokes. Can't say I've ever seen a style quite like it. I wanted to shake them both--tell her to get a grip and grab a paddle, and show him how to have a little finesse. Then have them paddle with equity. Damn, I sound like a snob.
But back to the sun. It felt wonderful. In fact, it got too hot sitting on the deck so I found some partial shade under a leafless tree but it was enough. I spent several hours by the pond reading Shelley Johnson's Woman's Guide to Sea Kayaking. I started from the basics and it was a great review that let me know that I have actually learned something, and then I read bits that filled in holes or added nuances. I was just getting into the Tides and Currents which is my trip topic. It's pretty complicated so I'll have a lot to study. I may google to find a simplified grammar grade level since we are supposed to present to a beginners.
Got an email back from a resume I had sent out. It read, "Regrettably, I just filled the position. My final offer has been accepted. Timing is everything!" I wrote back and asked if she could tell me if, given that I'm new to the field but have life experience, would she have given my resume serious consideration. She wrote back and said definitely would have considered it seriously and would have interviewed me. That felt good to know. As Beth says, my confidence level is not on par with my competence level. Nothing new there but I do need to work on changing that. Need to send more out this weekend along with prep of all the reading and presentations.
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