Last night at one of our monthly off season KNL events, we tried something a little more philosophical - a presentation on Risk.
It was an interesting forum and it gave folks pause to reflect a little.
The biggest message that I took away is that there is far greater positive benefit from participating than the negative rating sea kayaking might be given.
Outdoor pursuits permit participation in what many might consider high risk activites. However, what is high risk is somewhat skewed by the casual observer since - newfoundland sea kayakers, largely perceive the drive to the site as the greater risk than the actual event itself. There are no doubt inherent risks in almost any activity: even walking along a beach in NL can be risky if you are 20-30 feet from the waters edge. Launching from a beach on the NL coast in a sea kayak is no doubt a risk but safety awareness, training and skills acquisition reduce the negative and create a powerful positive effect for individuals who get an opportunity to view the city, landscape,communities and wildlife from the ocean perspective.
1 comment:
I agree with you Mike. Unfortunately the legal system has made all adventure activities high risk by threat of legal action when things go wrong. That threatens the future of our club paddles to the point that paddles will only go ahead when risk has been reduced to next to zero.
Who looses? Anyone who wants to learn to paddle in more difficult conditions with the safety net of skilled paddlers.
Tony :-)
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