Consciously Incompetant


The shape of this boat makes it handle much differently than my other boats

My new Cobra Revision  does not respond well to an outside edge but really turns with an inside edge which is opposite of what I use in my other boats most of the time.  It is really taking me a long time to adjust. I hope to become unconsciously competent with it, but then I wonder if I'll be able to go back to a sea kayak and paddle using mostly the outside edge.

I noticed when helping with a class last year that one of the students asked the instructor if they were making correction strokes and edging the boat as the class weaved its way along the shore.  The instructor guessed so but stated that she was not aware of it, she was just naturally paddling along.  This month I got reminded of how it feels to not have a feel for a skill, I hope I can learn to use the boat better, maybe it will make me a better mentor as well.

1 comment:

  1. Frank,

    I did a white-water weekend a few weeks ago and the white-water boats also turn on an inside edge. The way it was explained to me is that the bow is shaped so that a pillow of water builds underneath it. Leaning the boat allows the bow to slide off this pillow in the direction of the lean and initiate the turn. Very hard to get used to after years of leaning out of the turn :(.

    clay

    ReplyDelete