ROCK BOAT
DEVELOPING UNCONSCIOUS
COMPETENCE.PHOTO: VIRGINIA MARSHALL
THE ANTIDOTE TO APATHY Modern society is full of free rides. Just don’t expect kayaking to be one of them.
STARTING WITH little league trophies and Girl Guide badges and ending with degrees, diplomas and certificates—external recognition is a driving force in many realms of life. Courses and certificates can inspire us to learn, to challenge ourselves and to grow as individuals. However, courses alone are not a guaranteed pathway to proficient paddling, just as they are not sufficient to the mastery of Greek philosophy, culinary arts or race car driving. If we depend blindly on external experts and occasional courses to develop our skill and understanding, we are doing each other and ourselves a great disservice. Not so long ago, I taught an intermediate sea kayaking course. One of the participants hadn’t been in a boat since completing a basic course a year earlier. This participant hadn’t paddled all
year and could not reliably demonstrate even fundamental skills like a simple assisted rescue— yet still expected to pass on to the next level. Now don’t get me wrong—I love to teach. I am
happy to take the time to introduce, review and practice skills, but in a four-day course the time is limited. I had to fail the astonished individual because I could not in good faith send them forth into the world as a certified intermediate kayaker when they didn’t meet basic criteria for competently taking care of self and others.
Certification courses are a wonderful tool, but
they are only the tip of the iceberg of knowledge, experience and ongoing practice that makes up a strong, versatile paddler. Much of the responsibility falls on individuals to actually practice and regularly apply their skills outside of courses.
Blame society for our collective lack of ownership over our own strengths and shortcomings. We no longer have a culture of apprenticeship and mentoring. We are used to buying certificates and diplomas, being handed a pass,
instant
gratification—rather than putting true dedication, time and energy into good old-fashioned practice. A friend was recently rewiring his house. I asked how he’d learned to do this, expecting a story about helping an old family friend or assisting a trusted neighbor with a similar renovation. No, he assured me, a YouTube video had taught him all he needed to know. Next time I saw him, he had burn marks on his hand and had decided to hire an electrician. Sometimes what we don’t know can be very dangerous indeed. A couple years ago I was enjoying a post-paddling
—Continued on page 38
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