NCKA rite of passage

Safety good. Rule bad.

safety meeting...dump your boat...get back in.  fish n chill.

I required the newbies I sponsored for GSX to practice self rescue, they were glad they did as the mom had some trouble at first but got some information and learned how to do it. On that note, I don't think we should make it mandatory , but still stress safety.

What we need is a list of kayaks that are the easiest to self rescue on. BUT, they gotta be kayaks that are no longer in production  

I need a decoder ring for half of your jokes ....funny man 

i KNOW!!!  I never even knew he was funny till he became a comedian.  Cracked me up ever since though.

Bouché

This is what is wrong with this country. People with an idea, making EVERYONE else conform to their idea. Back off and let free will happen. People will make it, they will persevere, and most get a pfd once they have a near miss or we educate them. To mandate a pfd, is just like the feel good laes liberals pass every year in this state, that will accomplish nothing.
Just curious, who is going to be sworn in to start enforcing mandatory pfd membrrship checks?  I would, but im an asshole and get off on authority, and I am sure I would wind up using excessive force.

Just curious, who is going to be sworn in to start enforcing mandatory pfd membrrship checks?  I would, but im an asshole and get off on authority, and I am sure I would wind up using excessive force.

I vote for you. Do it.

Another vote for MontanaN8V as Enforcer

I have no strong opinion on this. That being said you could do something like a verified member thing. Nothing official just maybe a forum designation / title or whatever indicating proof of self rescue.

That way it's totally voluntary but something recognized. Just my two cents, I take my own safety seriously but I don't feel the need to put effort into policing the membership. It has been my experience that anyone who is unsafe otw gets gossiped about anyway.

No

If you don't practice self rescue than you are either a. stupid b. No fun (many of us practice self rescue by eating shit in the surf when the fishing is bad).

...as fr as making it a rule

"Membership" to NCKA simply means creating a screen name & password and logging in. It's a forum, anyone can look at it. There's a shit-ton of safety info on this site and 'safety first' is constantly being reiterated so newbs can read up & further their knowledge.

Rules like self-rescue practice can be set by hook-up groups and tournaments but the NCKA site is not the place for it.

BTW, I'm a fan of Vermin Supreme and the Pony Economy platform.

 I appreciate the interest and participation in this thread. Thanks to all who commented and voted.
Subjects that I contribute don't typically get much action and long time members know well that my perspectives and philosophies are often very different than NCKA general pop.This topic is another example.

 First, I wanted to address a response from the first section of my original post regarding the current reqs to become a full member with access to the members only sections, including fishing reports.

Full access would be nice

Magic happens after 10 posts

That's why new people post in 10 intro posts. It's not lame, the system is designed to make them post an intro +9 more times and it's totally rational and predictable that they would do it.

And of course people should not be required to demonstrate self rescue for membership. How may people sign up before they even have a kayak?  I did.

 I had believed that the 10 post requirement was to get new members to show a true interest in being involved and contributing before getting access to the fishing reports and shared intel.
Apparently I was mistaken. My apologies to the new members. Please continue padding your posts and  "welcome" and "+1" yourselves right to that 10 post requirement. Ive seen it done in less than 10 minutes multiple times. I had really thought that padding was not appreciated and tried to offer a possible solution.
Now I am curious why there is any requirement at all.
Again, my apologies.

Now I can comment on the required self rescue portion of the thread.
Im not at all surprised that people are opposed to my "self rescue" photo req suggestion.
I knew before I had posted it that certain demographics would find it threatening and others that would suggest that there is no problem to address.

It was a recent thread titled "Re-entry practice" that inspired my suggestion about something that I feel has been a long time issue.

http://www.norcalkayakanglers.com/index.php?topic=72841.0

A good topic, promoted practice, had a photo, and was enjoyable to read. Thanks APLINEX
What I found a little disturbing was the opening sentence.

"So, I've been kayaking almost a year now, and haven't yet forced myself into a re entry situation, but I realize the intelligent move is to learn the procedure as best I can, so I'm doing some more practice! "

Im glad that Pompano120 commented on this thread. I remembered a post that had a similar impact after reading it last summer.
Pompano120,
 Your comments here show that you might have changed your stance on the importance or learning self rescue.

From 06/14/2015

"Been fishing last year and this year mostly down Big Sur rough swell and condition but never thought about self rescue. So I finally took it out this past Sunday at and did 5 attempts. side entry was surprising easy but rear was not. I could not get on board and i was poop after several failed attempts. nothing can substitute practice and time in the water that's for sure. my 2 other buddies that fish with me are knuckle heads. they don't listen to me about self rescue. none of them have any self rescue practice. I preach to them many times that big sur is not a place they want to practice but like always they shrug me off. the only thing I could do is NOT go fishing with them."

What changed?

It was again the first sentence. "Been fishing last year and this year mostly down Big Sur rough swell and condition but never thought about self rescue."

 Id like to help bring back some NCKA memories. Tales of survival despite the best efforts of those who lived to share them.
First I want to make it clear that I believe that these are the heroes of the NCKA and they deserve many thanks for sharing these moments.
These are just some of the examples of members that got out on the water without ever practicing self rescue and/or could not get back on a kayak without assistance.

Involuntary swim. I really appreciated Yakattacks 5th point.
http://www.norcalkayakanglers.com/index.php?topic=14800.0

A GS III event and one of my favorites.
http://www.norcalkayakanglers.com/index.php?topic=18124.0

Never tried before it was the real deal.
http://www.norcalkayakanglers.com/index.php?topic=25811.0

More great examples

http://www.norcalkayakanglers.com/index.php?topic=25811.0

Herb superb
http://www.norcalkayakanglers.com/index.php?topic=30811.0

Required rescue
http://www.norcalkayakanglers.com/index.php?topic=36220.0

http://www.norcalkayakanglers.com/index.php?topic=13153.msg123653#msg123653

http://www.norcalkayakanglers.com/index.php?topic=45608.0

Just last year. Unable to get back in and boat separation.
http://www.norcalkayakanglers.com/index.php?topic=69017.0

There are more. Some, fortunately, happening at larger NCKA events.

Everybody swims but not everybody is ready.

When I was looking through the safety section I couldn't help but notice some hook-ups for self-rescue practice.
One from Rider and another from Outback rider. Both had 0 responses.

I still think this is a good idea and a little surprised at just how offensive some found this suggestion.
Seems simple. Just 2 or 3 photos (before and after) of yourself getting back aboard. Post them up with the required introduction post.
Why do some find this so repulsive?  Then dump the 10 posts.

Im not suggesting that the club be responsible for everyones safety.
Just a strong cultural stand that self rescue is not an optional skill.

Requiring PFD to be involved here should probably be in another thread.

Thanks again to all who participated and voted.

I think a vintage kayak self rescue clinic is a good topic. Which kayak is fastest for self rescue, that you can only buy on craigslist. I believe you already have them all, and the information you gather, would be invaluable on your site. You can probably mandate a ten selfie-self rescue pic requirement for membership 

bad idea. I agree with many of the reasons cited above, additionally, I don't have a go pro or any other way to document this sort of thing without befriending &/or inconveniencing folks that do, something that I'd be uncomfortable doing, and something that requires more time than I'm going to give up go join an internet forum.
 
I also have no desire to own a device of this kind, and wouldn't think of requiring anybody else to own/know how to use one.

All this said, I practice self-rescue fairly regularly, have taken the CCK Kayak Fishing Safety class as well as their rolling class (also use a SIK), as does/has my wife, but I wouldn't have joined the board if documenting self rescue were required.

Lastly, as a relative newcomer to NCKA, I still get a lot out of newbie posts and questions that older salts might find annoying. Even the inevitable reaming of someone that posts something like, "I just bought a sundolphin at Big5, where should I go for rockfish?" often yields useful info.
It's less a matter of using the search function to find answers, but more a matter of "whoa, I never considered that as a question". I find the presence of silly newbie questions actually adds to my enjoyment of the site.

I still think this is a good idea and a little surprised at just how offensive some found this suggestion.
Seems simple. Just 2 or 3 photos (before and after) of yourself getting back aboard. Post them up with the required introduction post.
Why do some find this so repulsive?  Then dump the 10 posts.

Im not suggesting that the club be responsible for everyones safety.
Just a strong cultural stand that self rescue is not an optional skill.

Requiring PFD to be involved here should probably be in another thread.

Thanks again to all who participated and voted.

I think there already is a strong culture of safety. It could be some think the suggestion crosses the line making it a requirement. Maybe we should be even safer. Pictures of your brake inspection before you go to gimme shelter. Photos of your tire tread, how you tie on you kayak, drug and alcohol testing before hitting the water. At some point we as adults should be allowed to be adults.