Huli recovery practice

We (Ralph and I) paddled the Hoquiam River today.  After several sets of quick 10's and long power(?) 10's we performed a huli recovery practice.  The dunking refreshed us.  After a quick recovery, we laughed & retrieved stuff that went swimming and paddled the 1/2 mile back to the car at ~75 strokes/minute.  

I'm still grinning, thinking about how we just watched as the ama started its orbit around the hull!  Neither of us tried bracing.  It might not prevent a huli in an OC6, but could it prevent a huli in an OC2?

I was also extremely happy to have my Lotus PFD on for cold water huli practice. 

:)

My take on how to recover from a capsize:  After a capsize, paddlers will find themselves between the hull and the ama.  Paddlers need to scissor kick themselves up onto and OVER the hull, taking care not to place too much weight on any one point of the hull.  That places them on the side of the overturned hull opposite the ama.  Next, paddlers scissor kick themselves up onto the hull again so that they can right the boat.  Now, paddlers should be between the ama and the upright hull and they can scissor kick themselves up and begin paddling again.

Guam

Information from friends for whom Alaska had no positions and didn't want to go to the deep South.  It wasn't Alaska, but it was at least an adventure they could write or talk about later.

Many contractors work jobs for the government and are paid not by the job but by the day.  They have no incentive to finish a job.  They routinely fire their workers before the requirement kicks for paying benefits, then rehire them.  They run accounts with equipment and supplies wholesalers and retailers in arrears, which leaves the workers with no tools or supplies for jobs, e.g., for a paint job: no paint, no brushes, no roller handles or refills.  The workers are hidden inside because they cannot be seen to be idle.

Why bother?

Whole aisles in Guamanian stores are filled with potted meats such as Vienna sausages and Spam.  The population is saddled with health problems that didn't affect the population 100 years ago.  Their favorite restaurants are McDonalds and KFC.

Language:  Chamorro, a combination of English, Spanish, Tagalog, Japanese and ancient Chamorro.  A surname of a particular spelling will have a different pronumciation depending on the ethnicity of the person who carries that surname.