None of us really knew what to expect, but we were told to bring pumps, paddle floats, stirrups, tow lines, duct tape, yard sized plastic trash bags, electrical tie wraps, helmets, and a small towel. Oh yes we were also told to dress for immersion.

When we got there, we spent a little time on the beach with Wayne and Chuck discussing the program and then we hit the water. We watched Wayne and Chuck demonstrate some assisted rescues and self rescues and then we paddled over to a sea wall so we could practice in the waves being reflected off of it. Although it was a bright sunny day, the water in Santa Barbara was colder than I expected. It was at least 5 degrees colder than Oxnard. Since the weather has been warming up, I have been opting to wear a full length farmer john, rash guard, and booties and have been leaving my hydroskin and jacket off when we play in the water. This was the wrong thing to do in SB. When it was my turn to hit the water, I almost leaped out of it. It's amazing how cold 55 degrees really is

For the first exercise, the person in the water was not supposed to help the rescuer in any way--this was great, except that my partner for this exercise had never acted as the rescuer in an assisted rescue. That meant I was in the water about 3 times longer than necessary. Brrrrrr, I'm still thawing out. The good thing is that my partner can now do an assisted rescue in much less time. Later in the day, I decided to put a neoprene hood on and found that I had left it in the car. Oh well........ another lesson learned

We practiced doing assisted "T" Rescues, Stirrup Rescues, Scoop Rescues, Re-enter and roll, towing and how to tow a totally incapacitated paddler who can't stay upright by themselves. We also learned a technique for teaching people how to side surf without having to have any waves. Anew (to me, at least) technique that we learned was how to move your boat forwards or backwards while side surfing a wave for a surf landing. This can be very useful the next time you see a rock in front of you as you surf in towards the beach or notice that cute little 5 year old boy who thinks a 17 foot kayak hitting him sideways won't hurt.

I am very grateful to both Wayne Horodowich for giving CKF members a special price of $75 for this "ALL DAY" class and also to Len Goodman for coming up with the idea of having CKF members get a rebate of $25 for taking one of the classes that Southwind, Aqua Adventures, and The University of Sea Kayaking offered. There are no doubts in our minds that club membership really has its rewards.

Following are some comments from the other students in the class.

• Being aware of the expectations that you give your group so that they do not try to exceed their abilities trying to meet those expectations.
• Being aware of the condition of individuals in the group to provide assistance (tow) before they are totally incapacitated.
• On the water spending so much time in and out of the water reinforced the need to dress for the water as I did get chilled form time to time and was glad to be back in the boat and paddling again to build a little heat.
• Another lesson learned the hard way, during one of the rescues I lost the bite valve from my hydration system, and much of my water was lost. I will carry a spare in the future.
• Having to use all of the different rescue equipment (pump, stirup, paddle float, spare paddle, etc) gave me some experience using them and perhaps more important food for thought about how I am going to be carrying them (on the deck, inside the cockpit, inside of a hatch).

Wayne had us practicing assisted rescues. I was using my SOT and my partner his Sit-in. My goal....not to go in the water! Forget it! I dumped us both and with Chuck's "assistance" I climbed back into my SOT, no sweat!

We paddled over to the calm waters inside the harbor for some more drills. Wayne rigged a long strap around the belly of our boat then standing in the cold water and about 6'-8' away from us he pulled on the strap just so gently, backing up at the same time, simulating the feel of what happens in the surf zone. Now this was fun! We braced or sculled depending on the thrust of our partners pull on the strap, again simulating the feel of the surf pounding the side our kayak. Now Chuck didn't let me just practice my easy, comfortable side, let's do the other side! Again I became humble, and found my not-so-comfortable side. It was that side I try not to surf in on and if I do who knows if I'll make it in right-side up or not. At Chuck's suggestion I broadened my sculling stroke and it was a lot easier and more efficient in the surf zone. Wow I was learning to refine my sculling! Now maybe I won't be in the surf so much as my boat will be instead.

These were only a few of the many skills we practiced during the day with Wayne's coaching.

"Practice-practice-practice" is the bottom line here! Just get out there, fall in, get wet, laugh, have fun and practice!

This was definitely a fantastic, full, fun-filled day of learning.

I would like to thank Wayne H. & Chuck from UCSB for sharing their skills and techniques of this sport with us. You guys are awesome!

Thanks to Len Goodman, our fearless leader, for organizing this training! You're awesome too Len!

Now let's see the next training class begins.........

If I had taken Wayne's class sooner, I would have known the best technique to do the assists and recoveries. It pays to have a Great instructor.

Although not everyone in the class will lead trips, we all felt that the more skills you can learn, the safer you are to paddle with.

    Steve Holtzman and Friends