I completed my FSRT provider training and should shortly be able to provide this course.
At the start of the process I was disappointed at how few club coaches did it and how little encouragement there was in doing so (e.g. few provider training days) but now I think I’ve changed my mine. It’s a large effort to run courses like this and to do so to the required standard takes time and money and commitment which is typically beyond what club coaches can do. I see 1 star courses running all the time with bad practice and not following the syllabus so I can understand why there needs to be a process to keep the courses to a decent standard.
All of the items in the syllabus are simple enough but doing them with the right techniques and tweaks to follow best practice, knowing different ways to explain it and what common mistakes people make that need pointed out and then knowing alternative methods when one method fails is quite a lot to know.
On the course I ran I struggled a bit with emptying a large Pyranha Fusion, they’re so rounded you can’t get a good grip on the end to rotate it. You typically separate kayak empty and getting a swimmer back in a kayak to keep people dry for that bit longer but best not to do this with Canadian canoes as getting back in the boat is typically done when the boat is still full of water. I also demonstrated Canadian canoe towing by tying the painter onto the same boat which isn’t clear at all, best to demo with two boats.
It’s a lot for students to take in for one day and if they’re not already at a high two star standard they won’t manage everything, it’s ok to leave a bit of stuff out if you have to concentrate on the more relevant parts. But also don’t be afraid to say it’s time to move on if an exercise is taking too long. Just remember to put it on the action plan at the end.
For kayak self rescue I did eskimo rescues and missed out a simple swim to the side and empty kayak, but during the eskimo rescues people swam out anyway and did swimming and bank empty wrong so I should have included that before any eskimo rescues.
| drysuit | £360.00 |
| second drysuit cos I lost my first | £330.00 |
| training | £60.00 |
| whiteboard pens printing | £15.00 |
| hotel for training | £156.00 |
| hotel for observation | £46.45 |
| second hotel for observation cos I booked on wrong day | £56.00 |
| equipment lomo (throw line, tow line) | £26.99 |
| equipment tiso (sling) | £5.40 |
| fuel to training | £50.00 |
| fuel to observation 1 | £5.00 |
| fuel to observation 2 | £15.24 |
| total | £1,126.08 |
With the travel and equipment I bought it comes out a over £1000 to do this, eek. I could save money by not being a fool and losing my dry suit and booking my hotel for the correct night and finding courses which were closer, but who needs to pay off a mortgage really?