The Eight Rules of Paddle Club

Paddler: Why? I don’t know why; I don’t know. Never been in a kayak. You?
Narrator: No, but that’s a good thing.
Paddler: No, it is not. How much can you know about yourself, you’ve never been in a kayak? I don’t wanna die without any swims.

The eight rules of paddle club¹:

1. You do not talk about Paddle Club.
2. You do not talk about Paddle Club.
3. When someone falls over, or goes limp, even if he’s just faking it, then the rescues begin.
4. Only one paddler to a kayak.
5. One stroke at a time.
6. They paddle with pfds and dress for immersion.
7. The paddles go on as long as they have to.
8. If this is your first night at paddle club, you have to roll.

This spring our local paddle club debated rules, insurance and liability. In the end, we decided that we’re just a group of friends who paddle together and that each paddler is responsible for himself. We also decided that we’d only paddle with people who know how to perform self and assisted reentries. And paddlers must have the right gear for the conditions. Rules? Not really. It’s just how we select the people we’d paddle with.

I’m curious what other small clubs do. Does your club use insurance, have rules, worry about liability?

¹Watch Fight Club if you don’t know where the rules come from.