PFDs - newsletter

[85dragonfly]

Good Discussion! And thoughtful! I like Ed?s suggestion that the waiver form may be a better place to address the PFD issue than the by-laws. As I said previously, no one really pays any attention to by-laws - until some question comes up. They?re not a day-to-day thing.
The comments following must be predicated upon, and understood in light of, the fact that I am a relatively new member of TCT, about a year. I have attended only one ?trip?, and have never attended a meeting. I know nothing of how TCT is structured, what its ?legal? status is (corporation, association, loose assemblage, whatever), nor what its by-laws actually say ( a thought - might that sort of information be included somewhere on the website? Might be there, but I couldn?t find it. A first-rate site by the way, one of the best I?ve come across. Kudos to the person who handles that). But I am a member of several paddling (primarily) clubs in my home area of western PA, and I have been with my home club(WPPSA - Western Pa PaddleSport Assoc) for 18 years, and have been its secretary/treasurer for the past 10 years. What I say here is based on my experience with WPPSA. And for the record, WPPSA has no legal ?status? at all. It is a ?club?, and is so simply because we say it is (which by the way is the case with most such organizations in the country - perhaps with TCT also?)
Yes, as Ed says, education is the key. Does TCT educate? (serious question, being new here I don?t know). WPPSA has for many years had a regular ?gig? on Monday nights on Lake Arthur at Moraine State Park. From ice-out until the clocks change in November, club members meet at a particular launch area in the Park and spend a few hours paddling around in each others? company. Each year we have at least two ?Safety Nights? on those Monday evenings. We practice use of a throw bag rope and how to position yourself to be pulled in by one; teach people how to re-enter an over-turned kayak or canoe (the canoe/kayak-over canoe/kayak thing) , along with a lot of safety ?talk? - the point of a PFD, what it does and why you wear it (Always!); the need to carry extra clothes in a dry-bag; having a whistle on you and knowing when to use it and what to do when you hear it on the water; watching over one another to be sure everyone got through the rapid OK; all of it. Attendance is not mandatory, but they are the best-attended Monday evenings of the year. Does TCT do anything like that? If not, I suggest y?all consider doing so.
On the trips that I lead, I insist that people actually wear their pfds on the water. But here?s the thing - I have never actually had to insist. Because of the stress that WPPSA had placed on safety for 25 years, the simple fact is that everyone has their PFD on already. Leading by example. Hundreds of river miles and I?ve never had to admonish a single soul. But would in a heartbeat if I had to do so.
And sad to say there is a potential legal issue involved here. Someone in these posts has said that every member must sign a waiver ?exempting? TCT from any responsibility. Such a waiver is not a silver bullet. If something happens and an aggrieved family member decides to sue, the ?protection? that waiver seems to offer may well be entirely illusory. Waivers never cover "negligence", and that's where a suit will go. Even if TCT is incorporated, every Officer is accountable in a suit, not just the organization. If, as I suspect but don?t know for sure, TCT is just a loosely organized ?club?, like most others of its ilk (WPPSA included) then every MEMBER is potentially liable. If I lead a trip with WPPSA, I?m on the hook, and there?s no way around it. If someone drowns (or is injured, or loses equipment)on MY trip, and in the unlikely (but not impossible) event that a lawsuit ensues it is ME who will be sued. (let alone how I'd FEEL about such an event). Don?t misunderstand - I advise that such a waiver policy remain in place, and be mandatory. At the very least it may at least briefly impress upon someone that there is inherent danger in any outdoor activity. Nature isn?t Disneyland, and it doesn?t care about you, so be prepared in both having the right equipment and an honest assessment of one?s own skills. Ego, nor carelessness, have no place on the water. But under no circumstances automatically assume that the existence of a signed waiver will protect either TCT or you. It ain?t necessarily so. That's why there's such a thing as Liability Insurance.
Without knowing any of the details, I notice from one of jp?s posts the fact that Youngstown State may wish to purchase 50 (I think) memberships so they may bring students along on TCT trips. I suggest being exceedingly careful in doing that. Insurance is going to be a major concern for something like that (perhaps TCT is already covered in that regard?) It is a categorically different thing than accepting the occasional new individual members here and there. It may well be a fine thing and work out well for all concerned and have oceans of positive benefits. Most likely it will be just that. I just urge a thorough-going Caution. Be very sure that you know what you?re getting into.

I know I sound like the Trump of Doom here, and don?t really mean to. I?m not trying to scare anyone away from anything. I?ll keep on leading WPPSA trips just as you all do yours. I know as well as you do that by and large such disastrous scenarios as I posit, thankfully, come up but only very rarely. I do mean to stress the aspect of Safety above all else. As I said in my first post, we all want everyone to come to the take-out in one piece, and have fun while doing just that.

Pardon the long-windedness. It is one of my hallmarks, for my sins. (Why say in one sentence what I can say in ten?) I seem not to be familiar with the word "succinct", and have long ago resigned myself to that. My readers suffer from that resignation.

[JPTolson]

Bruce makes some excellent points in the above post. A relative newcomer to TCT, I, too, do not know all of its history and traditions and how or whether some of those traditions may have slowly changed or disappeared over time. I can speak to the two strongest traditions of a previous club to which I belonged, the Canoe Cruisers Association of Washington, DC, and those were safety and education. I mention this here because of our discussion within the club on the merits of PFD use at all times while in our boats. And by recounting this, perhaps everyone will understand why I've been very surprised and concerned that PFDs are not used by everyone at all times on our trips.

CCA was extremely fortunate to have a number of certified (by the American Red Cross in my early years and later by the American Canoe Association) canoe/kayak and swift water rescue instructors. The club sponsored one evening/two-day classes throughout the summer for flatwater paddling, whitewater paddling (separate classes for canoes and kayaks), and swift water rescue. I took them all. Yes, even the whitewater kayak class, Bob! Besides learning paddling skills, paddling safety was an overriding message imparted by the instructors in all the classes.

Members new to paddling were very strongly urged to take these classes before going on club trips. If they didn't know a certain paddler who called to sign up for club trips, trip leaders would quiz them on their experience and equipment. If, in the trip leaders judgment, someone wasn't sufficiently skilled or equipped, the trip leader would suggest that the would-be trip participant not jeopardize anyone's safety (theirs or other's who might have to help them) and try the run once he was more prepared.

The club also held introductory sessions on the C&O Canal every Tuesday and Thursday evening during the summer to give newcomers a taste of paddling by teaching them basic strokes. The five-minute introductory spiel mentioned three inviolate rules of river safety?1. Wear your PFD (and wear it correctly) at all times on the water; 2. Never approach a dam of any size from upstream or downstream; 3. Never put on when a river is in flood (water flowing through the trees along the banks).

Between these introductory lessons and the more rigorous weekend classes, hundreds and hundreds of individuals received the benefit of instruction and safety messages from highly skilled paddlers with years and years of paddling experience. Over time, the ongoing and relentless emphasis on safety created and spread a culture of safety first in which wearing a PFD was assumed and as expected throughout the growing number of paddlers throughout the region.

I might add that one of the main reasons the club was so dogged in its emphasis on safety was that, at the time, an average of seven persons drowned per year in the Potomac River between Great Falls and DC, about 15 miles down river. Most of these were fishermen or rock hoppers who fell in and were swept away in the current. I don't know for a fact, but shore fishermen and rock hoppers, it's safe to say, they were not wearing PFDs. Nor were they expecting to fall into the water. The paddling clubs wanted to make sure that none of their members became one of these statistics, nor did they want their access to the river restricted by authorities who were concerned for public safety.

I am not suggesting at all that TCT embark on a program of formal canoe and kayak instruction. I do believe however, that after being able to swim and feel comfortable in the water, wearing a PFD is the most basic of safety precautions and that the club should treat it that way. Yes, there are any number of other safety measures?wetsuits/drysuits, whistles, floatation bags, throw bags, painters, never paddling alone, etc... that anyone could argue should also be followed at all times before dipping a paddle in the water. (And yes, I've broken some of those rules.)

The argument that suggests wearing a PFD should be up to the individual is often heard, but what about the other individuals on a club trip who might find themselves in jeopardy trying to help someone who is in trouble because he didn't wear his PFD? Isn't there a communal safety responsibility for everyone on a club trip? And what of trip leaders who insist that PFDs be worn by everyone at all times? Who will the club support, the trip leader or the individual who chooses not to wear a PFD? And what good does a PFD do secured to a boat and not worn by a paddler? Other than preventing a fine, why bother? And why would those of us do not work in this arena challenge the wisdom and recommendations of water safety professionals who work with these issues day in and day out, when it comes to this issue?

Have I gone on longer than Bruce yet??? Have I ticked everyone off?

I've offered this because I wanted to continue to stimulate thought on this important safety matter. But unless someone asks me a question directly, this is the last of my input on this matter. I know that many recoil at the notion of being required to do anything...it's just human nature...but I hope this provides some perspective on why I feel strongly about it and some additional food for thought.

Be safe, have fun, and see you on the river.

Respectfully,

JP

[EAR]

Gee , thanks for the "wet blanket" report . Almost makes me want to sell my boats to stay home and take up rug hooking.