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Do we need compulsory certification for SUP paddlers?

JohnAbercrombie

Paddler
Joined
Dec 7, 2011
Messages
3,558
Location
Victoria, BC
:):eek:

From today's email spam from Paddling magazine:
https://paddlingmag.com/trips/destinations/paddleboard-edmonton/

SUP paddler.JPG
:) :eek:
 
maybe it's the going in the water that is dangerous! so maybe water certification passports?
 
At least 50% of SUP paddlers hold their paddles backwards, in my experience.
 
Maybe a "I know which side of the paddle is backwards" certificate....
Is this some guy from the local modelling agency, or a paddler?
"Hey, turn the paddle around so the Haskin Canoe name is visible!!" :)
I do see backwards paddles used by a fair number of SUPers around here....
'Freedom of the seas', etc etc etc
 
Well. I think a bigger problem is that maybe more than 50% don't wear or even have pfd. Last weekend I saw numerous without proper gear. One couple had a a kid sitting on the board while the other had a dog. The dog and child had pfd thankfully but neither adult. I had a interaction with mec about their ads promoting "sexy pics" without showing safety gear. It's not just them though and it applies to other activities to like people starting hiking in the afternoon with flip flops or cowboy boots and a half empty frapicino in one hand as their sole supplies.
 
So much of SUP is close to shore and/or to be seen that pfd use [proportionally] is not so helpful for a spectator or user.
 
So much of SUP is close to shore and/or to be seen that pfd use [proportionally] is not so helpful for a spectator or user.

I respectfully disagree. A few days ago on a popular lake a SUP user fell from his board and drowned. I don't know what the circumstances were that caused it, but it took about 12 hours and a dive team to recover the body.
For reference, this lake is about 300m across.

Would a PFD have saved this person's life? Maybe, maybe not. But it would have at least saved considerable expense and given the family closure sooner. That's worth something.

At the shop I work at we're super diligent about only posting pictures on social media if people are wearing appropriate safety gear. Partly because we want to encourage people to paddle safely, partly because we sell the aforementioned safety gear.
 
Would a PFD have saved this person's life? Maybe, maybe not. But it would have at least saved considerable expense and given the family closure sooner. That's worth something.
Forget about the $
They could have potentially saved another life during that time.
 
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My neighbour keeps her SUP in my boatshed, and marvels at all the safety gear I carry. When I asked her about her plans to call for help should she fall off and not be able to get back on, she showed me her phone which she carries in a non-waterproof bum bag (fanny pack?). She explained that the phone is 'pretty good but probably wouldn't survive a real soaking.'

When I pointed out that is exactly the situation in which her life would depend upon it, she seemed surprised.

Still carries no other options! :rolleyes:
 
well:
So much of SUP is close to shore and/or to be seen that pfd use [proportionally] is not so helpful for a spectator or user.

1) It's a general observation not an advocacy . . . on a google image search I see 80-90% without, lookin' 'good', and with friends.​
2) or to critique the observation, one should state how the SUP proportion is incorrect - like SUP far from shore and where no one can be seen or rescued? or compared to when the SUP is on the car [I would say that's not SUP use]?? or is it with respect to other low pfd use water activities close to shore or to be seen - like swimming or snorkelling or surfing say?​
- I would say in the original SUP stated circumstance [close and observed] there still are real rescue options: swimming/wading to shore, huge adjacent [sup] bouyancy aid, easy remountable vessel, observers who can call for rescue, observers who can actually effect rescue and typically adjacent partner who could assist or perform any/all of the previous. Someone who 'buys it' in those circumstances really has the gods out of favour.​

 
My neighbour keeps her SUP in my boatshed, and marvels at all the safety gear I carry. When I asked her about her plans to call for help should she fall off and not be able to get back on, she showed me her phone which she carries in a non-waterproof bum bag (fanny pack?). She explained that the phone is 'pretty good but probably wouldn't survive a real soaking.'

When I pointed out that is exactly the situation in which her life would depend upon it, she seemed surprised.

Still carries no other options! :rolleyes:
Well a whistle costs a whopping $5 and the BC government was giving them away for free at the roadside boat inspections in a nice little boat safety package a month ago.
You can't expect everyone to have that sort of money left over after their several hundred dollar purchase.
 
Went out for a mid-week paddle a week ago, on a calm, warm river. Paddled past a guy on a SUP who seemed to not be having a ton of fun. Unprompted, he loudly offered "these things suck - they're for girls, not men!".

Maybe some kind of certificate that your masculinity won't be threatened by sucking at whatever water activity you pick on any given day?
 
Well a whistle costs a whopping $5 and the BC government was giving them away for free at the roadside boat inspections in a nice little boat safety package a month ago.
You can't expect everyone to have that sort of money left over after their several hundred dollar purchase.

True, but in this case my neighbours are Americans who spend half their time in NZ and their other summer in the US. They have no shortage of money!!!

It is more the lack of awareness that amazes me, particularly given these folks' backgrounds. Think ICBMs!
 
Having been at sea off and on all my life, taking command of my own vessel at about 11 year old, a rowing dinghy I turned into a sailing dinghy, being lazy but inventive. My brother and I sailed with no outside support, we'd be at sea for the day without anyone knowing where we were so one tended to become self reliant. I had what I called the, "What if the mast fell down?" approach to it. Meaning think what could go wrong and be ready for it and how to stop it happening.

Another constant, like the speed of light etc. is accidents take energy to happen. If they fail to be an accident they have wasted energy, against the laws of nature. So they don't happen if you have thought through how to circumvent them. My theory anyway.
 
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