Swanage & Durlston Bay - 11th July 2005

[spanner]

I've been thinking about a reply to one, and its a tough one as I totally with both sides of the fence ..... eek I'm turning into a woman

 

Coming from an industry that takes saftey very seriously, post Piper Alpha anyway, this trip has quite a few points that would make HSE have a hissy fit, and as such it can be read as a very lucky escape. As safety is always paramount I can totally see where Yakity is coming from and it is always pertinent to think about safety, but ....

 

Lets try and keep advice generic and not criticise each other too much or else it'll get too personnal.

 

There is an element of risk in what we do and we cannot reduce that to zero but we can take steps to minimise the risks :

..leaving a paddle plan with somebody onshore

..carrying a VHF and/or mobile

..carrying flares

..carrying an anchor and being rigged to use it safely

..having an alternative landing point

..going out with a buddy

 

and the most difficult to actually assess

..knowing you limits

..being experienced

 

 

I think the difficulty comes with determining your capability and gaining experience, and the problem is its not just a simple case of time on the water but what you have seen and done while out there. One thing I am sure of, its been a damn good learning exercise for them.

 

I used to do a lot of hillwalking, climbing, camping etc all over scotland, summer, winter all weathers etc. Lots of people have climbed hundreds of hills but only ever in good weather in summer. Put them on a hill in a white-out in winter and its a different story....can't navigate when you can't see where you are, no idea of snow conditions and determining avalance risk etc, no idea how to use ice-axe or crampons properly, no idea how much harder is to walk in gale force wind etc.

 

The only way to get that experience is to go out and do it, but you have to minimise the risk by being prepared for the worst. You don't just go charging out first time in the middle of winter, but you do have to keep 'pushing the envelope', otherwise you just get loads of experience of the one thing. The first time it is different you are stuffed 'cos not only have you never dealt with it before but you have never dealt with anything different either.

 

By continually doing new things you learn, you learn to adapt, and you gain a much better understanding of how much you don't know as well.

 

The trick is to keep introducing new experineces without too many new ones all at once. Too many variables spoil the broth, or is it too many vegetables

 

Not every new experience will be wonderful, or painless, but they should all be learning experiences, and by sensible consideration of basic safety they should be safe learning, albeit with a little risk.

 

You have to learn to manage risk through experience, you can't just read it from a book or a website. In that respect its a bit like learning to cast........

 

In an ideal world we'd all have an experienced buddy to go out yakking with who knows the water like teh back of his paddle, but I for one fully expect 99% of my trips to be solo and often in remote areas. Hence I will act accordingly ... no playing in the surf for me when I am miles from the nearest help.

 

Just like I do when I go backpacking alone in the hills for days at time. Some safety guidelines say never go into the hills alone, and I do it all teh time. Infact some say never less than 3 so somebody can stay with the victim while the third goes for help. Personally, I think that is overkill, being alone is fine just be well aware that you are alone and behave accordingly.

 

Sometimes being in a group can makes things worse, bravado , peer pressure etc, encouraging you to go on when really you dont feel comfortable/safe anymore. At least Zippy spoke up when he needed a rest which was the right thing to do.

 

 

I think I have rambled enough so now I'm going to shutup and go home

 

[ 26. July 2005, 06:15 PM: Message edited by: spanner ]