If there was a SOT skills class???

What would you want to see in it?

With all this safety talk, it got me thinking.  And I can't seem to find any predefined syllabus for such a thing.  Give me some ideas!!!  I'll see if I can't find someone to offer some classes.

Some things come to mind:

1) Discussion on appropriate dress
2) Cockpit layout for safety
3) Deep water re-entry
4) Surfing
5) Navigation and communication

-Allen

I'd add understanding water and weather conditions, including tides.

OK, been thinking about this.  Some of this stuff is not necessarily SOT specific and there are already classes offered on this.  Specifically nav and comm, and water and weather conditions.  #1 and #2 are more just discussions that we can and do cover here on the boards.  So in terms of on-the-water training specific to SOT, that leaves #3 and #4.  Anything else?  Another subject would be SOT rescue if you're taking on water or have already been separated from your yak.  How do you drain a SOT on the water?  Or how do you tow a "swimmer"?

-Allen

This may fall under cockpit layout for safety, but how about tips for safely manuevering around the kayak - i.e. getting in the front / rear hatch and accessing gear as needed.  It may not seem like to big a deal except I can tell you it seemed like a big deal the first time I got out of the seated position to get my sandwich! 

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Another subject would be SOT rescue if you're taking on water or have already been separated from your yak.  How do you drain a SOT on the water?  Or how do you tow a "swimmer"?

Yes, Yes, and Yes. All three of those are not quite intutive, but not hard to learn with company and practice. Not to mention save your boat and your life.   How about paddle swimming?

Great ideas. It may seem simple, but techniques to keep your balance in a SOT would have been useful for me. For example, yesterday morning I accidenally discovered that if I dangled my legs over the sides of the boat while casting, my balance dramatically improved. I'm sure there are other things that you experts do intuitively.

Tom

Dangle legs, indian style, side saddle, scoot up, scoot down, backflips ... anything to keep the legs from falling asleep.   

-Allen

Allen, I made that mistake on one of my first outings. I pulled up to a nice looking sea-run cutthroat beach, swung my legs over the side, then almost collapsed into the water because my legs were numb. I now move my legs around, and check for numbness before trying to stand up.

You really need to do a sklills class....

Tom

You really need to do a sklills class....

Working on it.  Perhaps we can get something together this fall.

-Allen

Working on it.  Perhaps we can get something together this fall.

Which is why I asked what you all would like to see in a class ...

Let me ask another question.  Would you pay for it?   I'm not qualified/certified/trained to teach anything and would feel better if I got someone else with experience to run this class.  But that would most likely cost something?  So ... who would be interested in paying for something like this?  And how much?  Again, I personally would not do run something like this unless I was adequately trained to do it.  I would, however, get together and just practice some of this stuff and offer my own personal suggestions, but please don't consider this a class in any way, shape, or form.

FYI, a standard surf class from any of the local kayaking outfits might run you about $175.  Here' an example targeted toward SIK sea kayaks.  Most likely I'd see if a local outfit was interested in offering a class targeted towards SOT's.

http://www.nwoc.com/classes/skclass.asp?page=classes#Surf

-Allen

I would be interested in attending a SOT skills class.  I was thinking it would run about $50 for a "day" (6-8 hour day).  I'd be willing to drop up to $100 to get some good hands on experience from people.  The $50 a day appears to be the going rate from the link you provided.  The $175 class appears to be an evening session followed by two days.

The ACA actually has a course, "Sit On Top Surf Kayak Course".

Here's an outline ... http://www.americancanoe.org/PDF/Surf%20Level%201%20-%20SOT.pdf

I'll try to see if there is a local instructor that would be willing to schedule something.  I'm thinking down in the PDX area as we don't have to deal with surf so much in the Puget Sound and you guys down south would deal with it more.  And if there is interest in the Seattle area, we'd probably have to drive just as far to get to any surf we could train on.

-Allen

I think $50-100 for a day would be about right. I'd like to see something on the Sound. I have no intention to take a kayak out in heavy surf or the Pacific,

Tom

I thought of another topic - "How to land a fish from a kayak." This morning I hooked 2 Pinks and 2 Ocean-run Silvers, flyfishing off Dash Point. Three of the fish broke the fly off when I had them near the boat, with only one clean release. I was going to release all of the fish anyway, so it's not a big deal. But it got me thinking about carrying a net, or perhaps some sort of hook release tool.

Tom