Sixteen paddlers gathered on a foggy Sunday morning at Leadbetter Beach, in Santa Barbara, for a day of rescue practice. Steve Holtzman and Peter O'Sullivan were the day's hosts. A couple of dolphins playing just offshore seemed to offer encouragement as we unloaded the boats. After introductions, we launched through almost no surf and gathered just beyond the swimming zone. The cool temperatures were a welcome relief for those of us who live inland.

The first rescue we practiced was the assisted T rescue. A new tip for some of us was to slide the boat being rescued on top of the rescuing boat in the upright position, which takes less effort. After a warning from Steve about the hazards of married couples practicing rescues together, we all paired off and took turns getting dunked and getting back into our boats. The water was chilly, around 60 deg F according to the marine weather radio. After everyone was back in the their boats, we were ready for the next drill. Some of us were impressed with how Steve had managed to keep his hat dry through all of the practicing.

The next drill was the paddle float rescue - an important solo technique. Again with encouragement from the more experience paddlers we dunked ourselves in turns and practiced with the paddle floats. A couple of tips were to lean on the float while in the water and righting the boat, and to make sure to rotate the boat a bit before lifting as this helps break the seal between the water and the cockpit.

Many of the more experience paddlers demonstrated their roll technique while the rest of us practiced our sculling and bracing strokes. We had lots of other fun including a demo of how to stand in your boat, towing practice, assisting a disabled paddler without a tow line, and staying upright while others try to tip you.

A few were now thoroughly suspicious of how Steve could have such a dry hat after so much practice! We all coaxed him to jump in the water and demonstrate the stirrup rescue. This requires an extra sling, but is great for getting weak or tired paddlers out of the water and back into their boat. Steve demonstrated very smoothly and was back in his boat in a flash.

Hunger pangs soon developed, so we headed back to shore and had a great potluck at one of the picnic tables at the beach. By now we even had a few rays of sun break through the marine layer. There was a lot of food and discussion of radio equipment and calling protocols.

I'd like to thank all of the experienced paddlers who provided tips and advice throughout the practice. It's always great to learn a few new tricks while working on important skills. A big thanks to Steve and Peter for hosting this enjoyable day!

It has many months since I have had to rise so early on a Sunday morning. I have been a member of the CKF for 6 months but I had never been able to attend an event to date, and I think that this wake up time was on of the reasons. Waiver signing was to occur at 8:30 in Santa Barbara. yah, sure. Ok, by 8:45 I had at least made it to the overcast beach, leaving the sunshine and warmth of Santa Clarita far behind. With a few quick introductions and the signing away of my life I was now attending my first CKF event. Although excited at the prospect of learning some new kayaking skills, I also had reservations. After all, this is the group that seems to preface every trip report with the word "carnage".

By 9:30 (or so) we had shared our introductions and were on the water. The launch was smooth as there were no real waves to talk about. We quickly paddled out beyond the swim zone and gathered for our first lesson. As people paired off for practices at wet-exits and solo paddle-float re-entries it dawned on me that I was one of only two people that were not wearing full wet suits, but having been at Manhattan beach playing in the surf the previous day I didn't pay too much heed to this thought. OK, my mistake. After some hesitations I opted to practice a T-style assisted rescue (sorry that I don't know the proper names but this is where the bow of one kayak meets the other kayak at a perpendicular angle and the drowning kayaker pulls himself/herself up and buys the rescuer lunch). It was at this point that I realized I should have heeded my passing thoughts about full wet suits! Who was it that made the decision to make the water so much colder at Santa Barbara anyways???

As the morning progressed and I began to thaw the demonstrations and discussions ensued regarding sling re-entries, tow lines, throw lines, and how to practices kayak rolls using paddle floats. In groups of 2, 3, or 4, we enthusiastically practiced the preceding lessons the dolphins swam by. I wonder what they were thinking watching us flip over, upright ourselves, and then do it again. Maybe "Those silly land mammals.". I do believe that the award for the days goes to the member who successfully rolled his kayak on his very first attempt (by who???).

After a few hours of drifting, flipping, and light-hearted conversations the order was given to head in for lunch. This appeared to go over well with all, although it could have come a bit earlier for yours truly. (What is the social etiquette for being stuck in a kayak for three hours when nature calls and you're surrounded by a dozen people that you've just met???) As such we all returned to the launch point and landed without any carnage. Oh, I may stand corrected. There was one person who landed parallel to the surf and after reaching the sand line then proceeded to roll over back into the ocean. Hmmm, was that one of our instructors? Was the surf only 6 inches when he flipped? Did I just trust my life to this person? Oh well, I guess I was too far up the beach to really get an accurate impression of the incident but I wouldn't guess that this would go down as "carnage".

Following the landing was a very pleasant lunch where a few stories were told of carnage in rock gardens and of chivalrous rescues. Oh, you mean that was just last week. A lesson in VHF radio usage was also given (which I greatly appreciate but do not think that I will go with the call sign of "sick radio", OK, maybe one too many "you had to be there" jokes).

And so it was to be that I was initiated into the ranks of the CKF. It was a fun day, some new essential skills were learned (nature call etiquette still outstanding), and for my part I believe some new friendships were formed and I look forward to the next event. Did someone mention 8:30 A.M. again? Could it at least be more south?

I thought this was one of our best practice sessions ever! All of the participants did get in the water although I have learned that I should at least wet my hat more frequently - it seems to dry extremely fast. Actually, I hadn't been in the water and I believe eagle eye Mike Brown was the first to notice it. We did have some fun while Mike and I horsed around a little, while trying to capsize each other. If you want to know who won that contest, you'll have to bribe one of the other participants - my lips are sealed. Actually my hat still stayed dry while I demonstrated the use of a rescue sling. I had forgotten to change my glasses on the beach which meant I was wearing my current prescription and did not have them tied on against loss. With the help of Pyro Peter, I just rafted up with him and jumped into the water without having to do a wet exit. Whatever happened to that statement of Derek Hutchinson's that "kayaking is a dry sport"?

I've asked the other participants to write a few words about this practice session as well, and as I receive them, I'll pass them on to Ray Roux for inclusion on the web site.

My comments wouldn't be complete without a BIG THANKS to Peter for being my co-host on this day - his skills are truly awesome, as well as the other members of the Old Fart Follies who were present and helped tremendously.

Mike Brown - for not only helping many of the people who had never done rescues or re-entries before but also for doing his first ever paddlefloat re-entry.

Patrick Martin - His humor and skills helped us all.

Chris Wood - His patience with helping me learn to use my new Greenland Paddle was amazing.

John Peterson - Spent the day working with his wife and they were still talking to each other after the session. Also John was another big help to me with my GP. Those of you who were on the Camping 101 trip last year, remember my antics when I borrowed Chris's paddle.

Dave O'Connor - who just returned from a long trip to Catalina Island and still managed to drive up from Orange County to help.

Steve Wilson - The only person I know who can talk about a "failure" that is so much more of a "success" than the rest of us mortals are capable of. Steve SUCCEEDED in doing a 75 NM paddle without landing several weeks ago.

    Steve Holtzman

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