CLG revision with Stephen

Did a CLG revision course with Stephen Poon today; also enjoyed bantering with Kit-Jai (Ho Man Kit). I had a good workout, I spent every free moment practicing the "dragronfly self rescue," until I nearly got leg crams, then I switched to use my right leg instead, then break time was over, and I worked out with my group, then went back to practice the self-rescue again.

I like running through scenarios and team rescues with different partners, especially CLG newbies. They make interesting mistakes that wouldn't be so interesting if you were to make them in a real rescue; they also bring in new ideas and make you question your own rescue routines and philosophies. I really like how Siu Ming lets us explore and decide for ourselves what works and what doesn't. Stephen is a little more straight forward, he demonstrates and tells us how it's done, but he is also open to discuss and negotiate variations. He isn't pushy, so trainees had more room to take up the roles of leadership, instead of getting force fed information, peking-duck style. For me, this kind of learning environment works best.

I also had a chance to get to know Stephen Poon better. Funny I did a silly psycology test on facebook last night, it's supposed to match me up with a symbolic Miyazaki-anime character. I hoped against hopes that I would be matched up with Kiki the young witch, but I got matched up with Ponyo instead =_= (Why do I have to be a fish!!?) The interpretation says I'm too curious for my own good and can't help but to throw myself into adventures that are sometimes beyond my depth, the only saving grace is that I'm supposed to be, get this, "pure and innocent," so that people often come up to me and offer helps O_O

Ha! Pure and innocent my ass. I don't think I've acted innocently since my 9th b'day! But the rest seemed eerily accurate: people do come out of the blue to offer helps, no matter where I go or what I do. I had a lot of helps when I hitch-hiked Canada as a teen; I am also getting a lot of helps from fellow paddlers and hikers in Hong Kong. Today, even though I wasn't particularly hungry or thirsty, Stephen fed me water and snacks. (reminds me, a gweilo once fed me a can of soda on SK water too!) It's not a big deal, I suppose, but I've always pictured Stephen as a somewhat distant person who seldom shows interests in other's businesses. Respecting that, I also try to keep my distance and not be too rowdy when I'm in his company. So I was surprised today when he came up to me for no apparent reasons and extended his supports. He also expressed his interests in paddling TPC and checked to see if I feel up to it, that's a pleasant surprise -- because usually I have to force and coerce others to come paddle with me, in fashion similar to pulling teeth. This time, I have a willing victim :)

So I'm thinking, it's not that I'm brave to uproot myself and take up adventures on impulses; it's just that somehow, my world isn't that dangerous a place. I just happen be surrounded by nice, giving, supportive people all the time, wherever I go.



Course summary:

1. Briefing, prereq-check
2. stretching and launching,
3. warm up (paddled to the opposite shore)
4. Eskimo rescue - bow and paddleshaft, both sides, from 10m
5. X-rescue, solo (CLG rescue swamed Europa) * * * Stephen commented that I should have moved the paddle out of my way when I empty the boat.  I had the paddle tied to the painterline between my CLG and the europa; Stephen moved it to port side, which gets it out of my hair, and helps me balance my boat. * * *
6. Bow-tow, stern carry (100m each)  * * * not that it matters, but Stephen is the only trainer I've met who manages to pronounce "tow" properly.  All the other coaches I've met say "tao" ^.^;; 
7. ABC rescues, rotate roles, discuss issues that came up. * * * my main flaw was communication. I thought I knew what to do and trusted myself to excell in every task, so that I didn't bother to talk to the other rescuers.  As a result we wasted a bit of time trying to figure out what each other were doing without bothering to ask or say anything.  On the brighter side, they also commented that I'm very detail-oriented.
8. "dragonfly" self-rescue -- Stephen had us try to hold the kayak in draining position for at least 5 seconds, and also try to finish the routine with the rescuer on the sterndeck.  I got a few really spectacular bruises from learning that move.  The most painful one was jamming my right hand fingers against the handgrip as I try to reach for it while I flip the boat and throw my body onto the deck at the same time.
9. Lunch Break
10. One general issue in the team-rescue was that rescuer-A often had trouble negotiating his kayak when he tries to reach the patient, so we worked on boat handling and tried to come alongside a dinghy. Stephen had us practice CAS using stern rudder.  Like Siu Ming, Stephen also points out that you can turn port or starboard with a stern rudder on one side. This trick must be in vogue.
11. Discussion: different towing methods, towline handling, and their usages
12. A long distance tow ... (to the white buoy, Stephen forbids patient to put in their oars, so I disappeared into the cockpit and tried to sleep when it was my turn to play the patient ^_^)
13. Somehow we skipped the single-rescuer tred-water/ CPR rescue. Oh well.
14. Break (I did a shitload of self-rescues, and taught two girls stern rudder, because they were having trouble keeping course in the wind on their tandem sit-on-top.)
15. Paddled around the lake along the shore CCW once, then practiced team rescue, then paddled around the lake CW again, Stephen seems to think this helps us build up strength and endurance, which I agree are all important to a CLG rescuer, but seriously, two rounds around the lake ... that shouldn't even count towards warmup. Anyway, I then went back to practice the deep water self-rescue between the two runs, again.
16. On land, we debriefed, practiced throw-line and throw-bag, went through the CLG arm signals, and were dismissed.

I also practiced rolling a few times, boy, I'm getting real rusty! I think, on top of my 20-30km routine, I also need to get some regular rolling practices going, because I don't think I'll survive a wet exit in the NZ surfs.

CLG, Trailwalker, Drowning

After 3 storms, we have a clear weekend at last - well, more or less. 

So loads of people decided to plunge themselves into the water, and some of them decided to get themselves killed.  We had one fatality on Lamma water, and one on Sai Kung.  It's a sobering reminder that even a warm, flat body of water such as that of HK can kill.

Anyway, I rested on Friday to "reserve" a bit of energy for Trailwalker training on Saturday.  Went to Sai Kung early in the morning for CLG with Siu Ming, then met Paul just before 6 to hike section 3.

It wasn't bad either.  I was tired but not totally bombed out.  We got "lost," well, as lost as lost can be on MacLehose anyway.  Somehow we veered a left and got into Shek Hang, we wasted about 30 minutes doubling back (and got our foot gears all wet.)  Came back up, and guess what we did ... we went back the way we came from and had to double back yet again =_=;;  

After we crossed the MacLehose/ Shek Hang intersection for the 3rd time, I got nervous.  Paul kept apologizing, but then it's as much his responsibility as mine.  I'm not very good at land-bound navigation (is it even called navigation on land??), and I'm not an experienced hiker, so I think I wasted quite a bit of energy in the panic.  Anyway, it's good that I got lost with Paul, because he is an excellent leader, and eventually we found our way out, and we were able to debrief and discuss what we did wrong (we were in too much of a hurry and didn't bother to check the signposts in the dark.)  It was a good "crisis management" lesson for me.  But I also think I'm relying on him too much, I really should have brought a map with me (I had a compass.)  If something were to happen to Paul, I wouldn't know how to help him, nor would I know how to get out of the trail, nor would I know how to give instructions to rescuers to reach us. (bring signal flares??)

My knees and toes hurt pretty badly when we ran/hopped down hill towards the end of section 3.  Paul said I have to "get used to it," I don't know, I think my legs are about to lose their buoyancy, and I'll have to load my kayaks with more floaties in the near future.

Practiced CLG again on Sunday, and rested on Monday.  I'm going to start hunting for the gears that I might end up using in NZ, because I want to have a chance to test them out before I throw them into my Nordkapp.

Things I wished I had during Trailwalker training:

an extra pair of socks and shoes

more drinking water (I had 1.5L poccari sweat, Paul had 3L of water)

dinner before the hike

map

a handkerchief 

extra batteries (my torchlight got quite dim.)

runners with better traction! 

CLG Exam

Not sure why I've been procrastinating to blog about my exam/ trips recently.  Maybe my body is asking for some lazy time to catch up on sleep and rest.

Four of us sat the CLG exam on Sunday (31st May 2009) in TMCC.  The rest of the group got together to practice a few times before the exam, but I didn't join them, so I was a little worried about communications during team work.

When we got there, Mimi gave us two rolls of duct tape and a dry cloth to fix the CLG kayaks.  Seems like a rather nasty omen; we did what we could but the kayaks were still "less than ideal."  We donated copious amount of blood in the boat storage area too (mosquito feasted on us.)  After that, we sat the written exam.  The questions were simple enough:

1) List the characteristics of a CLG kayak.

2) List all the towing methods, and their use.

3) How would you treat a patient with an open wound on the palm that is bleeding heavily?

We all did okay.  I got dinged on Q1 for saying CLG boats are fiberglass; apparently they don't have to be.  Also got dinged for saying that they are in yellow and orange stripes; turns out some CLG's are yellow and white (was rolling my eyes at that point.)  As for Q2, since I took my lessons in Chinese, then wrote my exam in English, I got some of the terminologies wrong.  For example, I didn't know the linked towing method was called tandem-tow.

Then the practical.  We started with 5 minutes of testing-the-boats.  Then we paired up to go through the practical:

1)  Jump Out, Deep water self-rescue (emptying the boat), re-entry

We launched two boats at a time to do the above mentioned procedures.  I think I did well, but got reprimanded for tossing my paddle onto the beach before I emptied my canoe near-shore. 

2) Bow-carrier, Stern-carrier

We had to carry a patient on the bow to the yellow buoy outside the swimming area, according to the examiner that was about 100m.  I'm pretty sure it was way over 200m but did not protest.  

We had to instruct our patients to get on and off our kayaks.

Paddled against the current with a human-anchor at my bow took a long time, and my patient kept asking "are we there yet =_="  Understandably; the swells that go over your head with nasty bubbles and garbage weren't very pleasant. 

Points to keep in mind: 

1) patient's head must not go beyond the bow

2) patient must not let go of the rescuer's kayak at any time.

3) * * * patient must wrap his/her legs around rescuer's bow =_=

We protested #3, it creates extra drags for the paddler, and it's quite an ab work out for the patient too.  Man Sir said we can experiment and use whichever style we felt most comfortable with.  But the examiner is really gung-ho about it and I got MP'ed right on my second task.

Stern carrying was no problem.

3)  Long Tow then Side Tow

We had to tow a disabled kayak to a red buoy, then change it to a short tow, and tow him back to the original buoy.

Everybody else got dinged for tying the short tow ring around the painter line; I only got away with it because Sam's kayak hasn't got a painter line.  Examiner explained we must tie ourselves to the toggle and not the painter line; I challenged the examiner about this point, explaining how you can use the painter line as a runner to check on the patient etc, I think he accepted.

I attached the beaner to Sam's toggle for the long tow, and tied a bowline to his toggle for the short tow.  Examiner checked my knot and seemed satisfied with how I set it up; but for some reasons he reprimanded the others ... maybe it's because they took a long time to undo the bowline knot. (struggling to undo towlines while dinghy-sailing has trained me to undo a bowline knot rather quickly, even at rough sea, and even when the line is under tension.)  Examiner insisted that we should setup a short loop with our long towline for side-tow, and if we insist to use a short line, we must have a beaner at the end of the line for easy clip-on/ off.

4)  X-rescue

I don't think he so much as looked at  me while I emptied Sam's boat.  I stayed in the X position for a long time, waiting for him to look.  But the examiner seemed just as determined not to look my way, so I gave up and put my patient back into his boat before hypothermia claims him.

5) Swimmer to Canoe rescue, jump out, resuscitation with a floating canoe

Think I did okay, but for some reasons the examiner got onto Ester's case for holding onto the painter line...?  I thought there is nothing wrong with that.  When my floatation aid is too high up, I find it difficult to swim back to shore with my patient.

Examiner also questioned us about the resuscitation, we had to explain it's the mouth-to-nose variety.

6) Eskimo rescue

Examiner had two of us at each side of the self-rescue kayak.  The examinee was to capsize, then the examiner would instruct one of the bystander-kayaks to paddle over and offer either a paddle shaft, or a bow.  

Ester got dinged for offering the shaft before her canoe was at the right distance/angle.  The patient nearly fell off as her paddle blade slid off the patient's bow.   She also had trouble getting up, she said the paddle leash was in her way (??)

7) ABC team rescue.

We had to play rock, paper, scissors -- winner gets to be patient while the rest of us played ABC.  Wai won, so the tallest, heaviest guy ended up playing the dummy... =_=

Sam was B, I was A, Ester was C.  For some reasons she got to the wrong side and had to paddle around again to offer me the bow.   Sam also complained about being stronger on the RHS and was very unhappy that he had to lift the patient on his LHS.  Oh well, deal with it.  In real life you may have to do a rescue on any side, so now is as good a time as ever to find out if you can work it through your LHS.  I think, when they got together to practice, they probably kept practicing on the RHS, so they got confused when I picked up the patient on the left. (not trying to be pedantic, but the cheung tsui trial-and-error rescue is still burning at me. So I think you really should practice rescue in all thinkable positions.)

8)  CPR scenario

Finally, we did CPR.  Wai was patient again, the examiner showed us how it is done, we only had to answer questions like "what's wrong with this" or "how many seconds per breathe" or "how many cycles before you reevaluate?" 

I didn't like some of what the examiner said (found it very subjective), but at the end, he offered a comment that I really liked:

To be a CLG, a few things are quintessential: number one is endurance; it takes a lot of energy to go through a rescue, and there is no way around it. (I whole-heartedly agreed; nodded so hard I could have snapped my C-spine.)   Next, you must be skillful, with good techniques.  Finally, you must be a natural leader; without leadership skills, if you fail to communicate, to instruct during the rescue, you can't complete your task. (also agreed.  Have to wonder though, if bossiness is the same as leadership skills :p)

Afterwards we had lunch, and after lunch, we paddled our CLG kayaks to "the Brothers."  (the smaller of the two Islands, which happens to be off-limit.)  Saw a pilot ship hoisting a H-flag, and a few buoys.  Nearly got ran over by a small MSC tanker, but turned around in time.  Everybody got really excited about the boat waves; which brings back fond memories of launching from Lamma. 

Didn't get back until well past 6 and mimi got very worried; a few TMCC members were looking for us, they called around to check with the nearby beaches but they didn't see us, Mimi told me she was about to call the police when we got back.  I thought it was irresponsible of me to agree to launch without leaving a trip plan, asking for permission, or bringing my cell phone.  Seriously felt bad about it, even before I launched I sort of knew I shouldn't, but I can't seem to turn down an invitation to go "tripping."  Oh well, Denny's last instruction was "don't paddle too close to the swimming areas," at least I made sure everybody stayed REALLY far from it.