Big thanks to Larry and Jason! Plenty of water for the class and boatin'.
It was good to see so many BWA'ers at the Russell Fork, and meet some new friends and reconnect with some others. Didn't feel like August...

A few shots from the weekend...
[picasaweb.google.com]#

You're welcome. The additional water added to the realism and also to the difficulty of executing some of the skills. I hope everyone came away with something valuable. In my view, the basics of what we taught this weekend are simple, 1. The best rescue is one that doesn't happen. 2. Swimming and the ability to handle a throwrope are basic WW survival tools. 3. A bit of planning and knowledge go a long way to make a safe trip (P6, Prior Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance).
4. The best piece of rescue equipment is the one between your ears.

Remember, if you are the victim, ISTBY.

The is a one day followup to this course that consists of basically a river trip with a number of rescue scenerios along the way. I haven't tried to organize one of these yet, but if there is interest, let me know and Jason and I will war game it and see if we can come up with a time and place.

Now, which ever one of you beat me with the stick will confess. You instructor feels like he went 15 rounds full contact this morning. It's going to be one of those vitamin I kind of days.

Larry

Larry Cable

link to the cheat sheets from AW...knots, mechanical advantage systems and other vital info on waterproof cards. Perfect for people like me with short term memories....

[www.americanwhitewater.org]

BIG THANKS to Jason and Larry.

Learned a TON and had a great time doing it


PS - A river trip w/ rescue scenarios would be awesome.

I have to agree with KC. Thanks Jason and Larry for all the educating. I feel much more prepared for those not so fun situations. Although I have to say I had a blast getting into near drowning situations, playing the distraught swimmer, and rescuing a certain female by the pony tail. And what an awesome group of classmates. I enjoyed getting to meet everyone and look forward to seeing you all on the water.

I will definitely attend one of these classes again in the future.

For those of you who enjoy watching boaters swim, and swim, and swim some more. Check out several pics from the weekend at SWR


Later,
PV

I'll have to confess, the scene of Larimore attempting the bow/eskimo rescue in moving water had me laughing so hard I almost wet myself. What a yard sale, boats and paddlers and paddles going everywhere. The bow rescue is so easy in the pool, it's surprises most people just how difficult it can be when you add a little current.

Larry

Larry Cable

Yes yes what a yard sale it was. That was the first time I have swam out of my creek boat this year and hopefully the last. Something just feels wrong with pealing out of an eddie, throwing your paddle in the eddie and flipping on purpose. Especially with Mike being the rescuer (I can say this on here because Mike has to go to the library to get on a computer, two words Mike, wireless internet). How did he flip coming after me anway!?!

I obviously need to work on my hand role. I usually do at the lake in my hand-me-down creeker, Perception Overflow (see purple boat in this video [www.youtube.com] ). It’s easy to hand role do to it’s displacement hull.

BTW Jason and Larry thanks for putting on the SWR course. You all are an asset to the club with the knowledge that you have and the low cost of the event compared to others. THANKS DUDES!

Ledgeman