What does a rule of thumb, educated guess, guesstimate, and plain old common sense have in common? They’re all examples of heuristic thinking: a technique that each of us use quite naturally in everyday life. They allow us to reach an immediate goal without putting too much thought into it, meaning we get stuff done quicker. Heuristic techniques are fine when you’re shopping for groceries for example, but heuristic thinking in critical situations that we as paddlers might find ourselves in, can lead to disaster. This issue, I want to talk about how to recognise and avoid heuristic traps. Otherwise known as, ‘check yourself before you wreck yourself ’.
My initial awareness to heuristic traps came from my avalanche awareness training course with Avalanche Geeks whilst preparing for the International Mountain Leader assessment in the Alps. People who call the mountains their playground, such as back-country skiers and alpinists have to be educated to these traps, but the concept can be applied perfectly to stand up paddling, and in fact any adventure sport with elements of risk.
PICKING UP LEMONS
I like to tell my clients that when we collect lemons. Lemons are added margins of safety…things like getting an early start, a good paddling partner who you know how they will cope, not taking shortcuts with your equipment, mobile phone properly charged…Using little self-guiding rules are very good techniques to mitigate our heuristic thinking. The more margins of safety we have in place, the better chance we have of recovering from a heuristic (or any other ) snafu.
When I was paddling around Wales my lemons were things like: I’ve never paddled this area before, it’s a spring tide, there’s ten foot of swell, I’m carrying 40 kg of bags…Based on my experience I would make a judgement call as to how far, or even whether to paddle at all that day.
One particular day on the canal it was like paddling in treacle. I wasn’t as fast as my friends on sea kayaks and it would have been easy to get pressurised thinking ‘well they’ve paddled X distance today, so should I’. Instead, I set small targets of 10km and would stop and see how I felt. Then I’d go again, and ended up paddling 70km.
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Turning Points
With spring in the air and the start of a new decade, thoughts naturally turn to what we can do differently in the name of betterment. Finn Mullen reflects on some changes to consider when looking to improve your SUP surfing.
THE CLOSE OUT- TREV'S GREAT BIRTHDAY ADVENTURE
I have had my fair share of great birthdays, usually coinciding with a national holiday in a country that Iâm visiting. But this one was a bit different.
Paddle Science #18 - The Body Fortress. Boosting Immunity
At this time of year, the rate of infection for colds and flu normally tends to slow down as we enter warmer, springtime months. However, if youâve been anywhere at all in the world recently, then thereâs one word you canât escape at the moment: Coronavirus. Infection rates, mortality rates and prognostic data are changing daily at the moment. As a new virus none of us have previously been exposed to it, meaning that currently, we have no immunity to it. Itâs only through being infected by a virus that our bodies are able to make the right antibodies to not only enable us to recover but to also help protect us from any recurrent and future infection from it. If youâre keen to stay well and keep getting out on your SUP board this spring, then focussing on boosting your immune system is a positive step to take.
Ceylon Stories
Like a teardrop on the tip of the Indian sub-continent, Sri Lanka is a little tropical El Dorado of beautiful landscapes, rich cultural heritage and people with incomparable kindness. Thanks to its favorable exposure to the swells of the Indian Ocean, the has a large number of good waves along its incredible southwest coast where French pro Alexis Deniel and his partner Melanie had an unforgettable experience this winter. Discover their colorful journey through this dream destination sharing its jewels after decades of civil war and the tragedy of the 2004 tsunami.
Polar Bear
In 2019, the Polar Bear showed the world his teeth. After a fourth place in the toughest SUP race in the world, the Red Bull Heavy Water, the now 19-year old Christian Anderson became World Champion in November in the Technical Race at the ISA World Championships in El Salvador. He also won the U-18 title on the Euro Tour with an 11th place overall. Whatâs behind the young Dane's rise to power?
SHADENFREUDE
TEST REPORTS
Desire Lines
We were on the outskirts of Helsinki, scouting a new destination for our sup camps. Just 45 minutesâ drive from the city, the untouched nature of the Nuuksio National Park stretched out before us. Mirror-smooth lakes, wild herbs and an impressive fauna waiting to be explored over on board or on foot via the many desire lines made by the land mammals.
Magical. Mystical. Epic.
Alexandra is a club ambassador and SUP racer for Bray Lake; relatively new to the SUP scene she completed her first race season in 2019. She participated in her first international event, the Gla Gla, 2020, and placed 1st Brit, 8th lady and 81st overall, out of a mass start of 637 paddlers. Here she shares the highlights of her first Gla Gla experience.
Green Medicine
As a keen outdoorsman and busy GP, Paul Sampson has come pretty close to attaining the mercurial work-balance. When not busy with his patients, he can be found hiking, climbing, paddle boarding, wild swimming⊠anything that gets him outside soaking up the great outdoors and reconnecting with nature in the beautiful South of Cornwall.
Depth Charge
Many of us have are staying away from the beach for a while, some are confined to our homes, but that doesnât mean we canât still train for the surf. If you try the following for just one week youâll see results, never mind three monthsâŠ