Sea Kayaking Cornwall (SKC):
Incident management course 15/16 Sept 2007 (account by Nick J)
Mattias, Yolanda, Tony, Olaf, Malcolm, Liz, Nick.
This training was with Sea Kayaking Cornwall (SKC), a young venture run by two of the UK’s top paddlers, Simon Osbourne (youngest solo circumnavigation of UK by sea kayak) and Jeff Allen (many expeditions including circumnavigation of Japan).
This was a really great course and a week later we’re all still buzzing with the ideas and techniques we learnt. I found it excellent value; good gear, authoritative teaching and a fabulous venue, but it’s a long way to go for a weekend. When I go back I’ll try to arrange a five day course.
FRIDAY 14
On the beach during Saturday’s pre-paddle briefing Jeff said that many sea kayaking incidents can be traced right back to things that happened or didn’t happen long before the group even got on the water. Luckily the only incident, created by Malcolm forgetting his wallet on Friday morning, was a rash of offers of temporary financial support, then a drive back from Dalston to Stratford to get the wallet anyway. In an effort to travel light we had opted to use as much of SKC’s gear as possible, but we still had a heap of camping gear, paddle clothes, ball gowns, food, one kayak, two surfboards and a folding bicycle. Yolanda and Mattias drove down separately.
Although it was mid-morning when we left East London it was dark when we arrived in Falmouth, where because of my out of date map finding our way through town to Tregedna Farm became a team effort involving Google maps, Malcolm’s (watch) compass and Tony’s (Blackberry) GPS.
Anyway, we arrived and as we pitched camp the temperature dropped sharply and a heavy dew soaked our shoes. The sky was cloudless and black, except for the Milky way and countless stars. Tawny owls hooted in the surrounding woods. We were all looking forward to the training, expecting a lot and wondering exactly what we’d signed up for. Then in true play boater fashion we went to the pub for supper.
SATURDAY 15
We met Jeff, our instructor, at 9:30 on Maenporth Beach, (half a mile from the campsite) a sheltered, sandy bay facing east-north-east and with easy access, a car park along the top of the beach, a café and public toilets. This part of Cornwall is softer, more wooded and better sheltered than the battered north coast. As per the forecast it was sunny with no wind.
SKC will supply just about all you need, but it’s important to let them know beforehand what you want. We all used their boats (Romany, low volume Romany, Explorer, Greenlander Pro) and most of us borrowed paddles, spray decks, helmets or other bits of kit.
When gear and boats were ready we stood round for a formal introduction and briefing, itself an essential part of incident management, i.e. planning. Know each other – abilities, experience and expectations. Any old or current injuries or medical conditions? Agree the rules, signals and the day’s plan. Who is the leader and who is their number two? What equipment does the group have and who is carrying it? What is the tide doing and what is the latest weather forecast?
Jeff, Harry and Garry.
Jeff is tall; he introduced, his number two and main victim for the course. Harry is short. He has an irreverent humour, irrepressible vigour and holds the current record for fastest sea kayak trip round the UK. Garry is neither tall nor short; he is an additional helper and victim for the first day.
This is where Jeff said that incidents can often be traced back to earlier acts or omissions: a hangover, a forgotten fact or piece of equipment, something broken or unfamiliar (make your own list!), the incident starts not with the first capsize but far earlier and is compounded by later events.
For the two days it was not easy to retain the flood of information that washed over us; all the time there were strategic issues as well as details to consider, both of planning and equipment. (I hope this is where our planning pays off and that by going as a group we will have captured more information and be able to transmit it to the club better than we could have as individuals).
Why was Jeff doing this on the beach and not on the water? (another strategic point)… because on the water we wouldn’t be paying full attention and it would be harder to communicate. Easy!
He introduced us to our responsibility for safety; first our own, then that of the group and lastly the victim’s, and then to situation appreciation, a way of thinking about an incident that lets you plan a strategy quickly under pressure.
This seemed to be the most important element of the weekend’s training but isn’t something I could really learn in two days. It’s tempting to try to describe situation appreciation here in detail but then once you’ve read my account you might think you know it, and I’m bound to get something wrong; so here’s an outline:
- first check your own safety, (are you in danger, could you perform the planned action/rescue safely, could you exit safely - there’s no point becoming a second victim)
- then check the safety of your group – in the pre-paddle briefing they’ve already been told that if there’s an incident they should automatically face into what ever element is having the greatest effect (wind, waves, tide)
Then you consider:
- AIM: decide your AIM (can have short term and long term aims e.g. 1: get injured paddler and boat out of gully, 2: get injured paddler in their own boat and tow them back to safe landing/nearest road access/hospital etc.)
- FACTORS: e.g. consider state of victim, sea, weather, tide, sunset, strength and resources of group – what will change and how quickly?), use of coastguard – time, distance etc.
- AVAILABLE OPTIONS: e.g. different tows, use a swimmer, rescue from the land then paddle home, nearest landing for hospital, prepare for lifeboat or helicopter pick-up etc.
- PLAN: with the aim, factors and options considered one hopes a preferred plan will be fairly obvious, less favoured options become back-up plans.
The whole point is not to let yourself or anyone else go charging in under the influence of adrenalin (not easy!) but to go in calmly, with everyone’s safety taken care of and a plan in place. We took turns trying to do this on Sunday…
On Saturday we didn’t paddle very far, that wasn’t the point; within minutes of launching we were in and out of the water practicing various methods of towing, rescue and self rescue. One way and another this continued through both days, the important themes being that we need to feel comfortable out of our boats (and on occasions might be better off in the sea), if towing is needed it must be quick and effective and that incidents need a clear logical plan before action.
We did many sorts of tow, both swimming and from the kayak but the single piece of equipment that few of us had really tried and fewer owned was extremely short (about 700mm) with a karabiner and a quick release shackle, specially designed for a secure contact tow; easy to make, versatile and invaluable. You keep it clipped in a loop across the deck just in front of the cockpit. We used waist towlines – first, shortened by daisy-chaining and a quick-release knot (within reach), then with it full length; we touched on the use of throwlines (also for extending a towline). It was drummed in to us that towing is a foundation skill – there’s no point helping someone back into their boat if you both get blown onto the rocks while you’re doing it. We did T-rescues with someone towing the rescuer away from the danger and we did the Hand of God (righting a capsized unconscious or trapped paddler) and the Scoop (for putting an injured or unconscious paddler back in their boat.
After towing our boats to rocks that at first appeared far too steep (and hauling them metres up to perch on ledges we got back in the water and bobbed around in emergency bivi-bags and a group shelter; sort of wet camping.
Saturday was about techniques, behaviour and awareness. As soon as you see a boat go over you shout (loudly!) ‘CAPSIZE!’ and then if the paddler appears out of their boat ‘SWIMMER!’ If you are a swimmer and you can’t rescue yourself then you swim to the front of your boat (if it’s safe to do so), wrap your legs over the deck and hug the bow, with you head beside it. This shows that you need help, know what to do and are not panicking, you are an asset, not a liability.
SUNDAY 16
The day started grey and mild but with a breeze and slight swell that promised more interesting conditions for practicing what we’d learnt. After our briefing we launched at Kennack Sands and paddled west, aiming for the Lizard and some tide races that work on the ebb. We never got that far; from the start Jeff and Harry were engineering incidents then nominating one of us to act as manager. Harry would paddle down a gulley and capsize; if the rescuer went in with an incomplete situation appreciation then Harry the victim would tip them over = two victims! Of course when things start to happen and you are nominated leader your brain turns to jelly but if things were going too smoothly Jeff might quietly indicate to someone else that they should also capsize or they should paddle gung-ho into the middle of the rescue and capsize (I was that adrenalin fuelled idiot). All of this meant that we never quite knew what was coming next…there was a capsized boat in a cave but was there a paddler in it? Should we be making a Pan pan emergency call or a Mayday? It was pointed out that delegation could be an invaluable tool, the manager or leader can’t do everything, doesn’t automatically do the rescue and can call for several things to be happening concurrently to make the rescue safer and quicker.
Over and over we realised how difficult it was to operate smoothly, to work as a team and to stay out of the way unless told otherwise. Equipment got tangled or didn’t seem to do what we wanted it to; leading was an art to be learnt and there seemed to be too many things to think about all at the same time; reminds me of learning to drive a car.
Before lunch we had another very clear lesson. We landed at a cobbled beach, carried the boats clear of the water and then stood by the bow of our boat.
‘Close your eyes’ said Jeff.
With closed eyes we had to put our hands straight on the karabiner of our towline and clip it on to our boat.
Still with closed eyes we had to walk away until we got to the end of our daisy chained (short tow) lines, release the knot and continue to walk away until we reached the end of the extended line. Then he showed us (eyes open) how to recover the line quickly and neatly. This was a great lesson in needing to know your equipment intimately and the equipment needing to be fit for purpose. We looked at that simple but crucial item, the karabiner. Few were designed to suit our needs. Some were too small, some had weak hinges, some had snags that would foul a deck line. Looking at the lines they were all different; where should the shock-absorbing section be? Where should the float be? Was either feature necessary?
By the time we stopped for lunch at the charming village of Cadgwith the sun had been out for a couple of hours, it was hot and we were ready for lunch.
There’s not much more to tell. I think the course was a great beginning in incident management and it left all of us feeling the need for reviewing our equipment, getting loads of practice (come and join in!) in increasingly rougher conditions and doing more training when we think we’ve improved.
Sea Kayaking Cornwall: www.seakayakingcornwall.com
CAMPING: Tregedna Farm: F.M.Harris 01326 250 529
£5.50 per person/night (inc car). Mention your connection with club & SKC.
BEACH: Maenporth Beach: café, parking, toilets. Sandy beach.
PARKING: Maenporth Beach £2.00/day.