Awareness

Awareness is a "soft skill" that experienced paddlers possess. Not only does an aware paddler use their five senses of sight, hearing, smell, feeling, and taste to know what is going on around them; the aware paddler also anticipates things before they happen. A decent depth of knowledge is required for awareness on a level of conscious anticipation, but it is an important aspect of paddling safely. At a minimum you need to be aware of the weather, waves, other boats, your skills, the skills of your partner(s), and how they are all interacting.

Sight: You see foam or spray off in the distance. An aware paddler will ask her or himself what is causing that water to fly up in the air. Is it a PWC? Is it a whale? Is it a boomer? Is it surf? Is it a waterspout? Rather than merely being aware that you are seeing foam or spray, answering your questions will tell you if it is an uncharted hazard, the presence of a large marine mammal to enjoy, a changing weather system, or perhaps another watercraft user who may be harmless, or whom you may have to avoid.

Hearing: You are paddling on calm water and hear the sound of water splashing. Again, is it a human, a machine, an animal, the weather, the land? What is it, and does it pose a problem? If it poses a problem, how do we deal with it?

Smell: What is that stronger-than normal fishy smell? A commercial fishing boat? Whales munching on salmon? A tide flat?

Feeling: Some people can feel a change in the weather. You can feel a change in the Air Temperature. You can feel waves steepen.

Taste: If that fresh-caught seafood tastes funny, spit it out! Food poisoning might sound funny, but on a 2-week trip, it would be no laughing matter.

Be aware of everything you do while paddling, and even in life. Not only will it make you safer, it can also enhance the experience, and you'll get a lot more out of it.