Several of the clubs I'm affiliated with have shelved the concept of
"trip leader". They are now called "trip coordinators" and their
formal responsibility ends when (1) the trip has been publicized in
such a way that any member who takes the trouble can learn about it,
(2) a rendezvous place and time has been established, and (3) the
shuttle has been organized and run.

When I organize a trip, after discharging these responsibilities, I ask
if anyone wants to volunteer to be probe boat and if two people will
volunteer to be sweep team (I don't organize trips on rivers where I am
not willing to be either probe or sweep, so the worst case is that I
probe and the rest straggle randomly behind). Then I gather the group
together, count boats, ANNOUNCE THE COUNT so that everyone (this is my
story if I ever have to tell it to a jury) shares the responsibility
for keeping count of the participants, and briefly go over the simple
paddle- and whistle-signals, make sure everyone knows who the probe and
sweeps are, and tell them that if they fail to keep between the probe
and sweeps they cannot expect any help from the group. Sometimes, if
it is a large group and includes paddlers whose skill-level I don't
know, I will ask everyone to pair off into buddy-teams so that if the
count ever comes up short everyone can check for his buddy's presence,
and we will quickly know who is missing, so that we can then get on to
"who saw him last, and where?" Then, I count boats all-too-frequently
all the way down the river. But I do all this in the capacity of
officious busybody, not as "trip leader".

-Richard, His Kanubic Travesty
--
================================================== ====================
Richard Hopley Winston-Salem, NC, USA
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Brian Nystrom wrote:
wrote:
Brian Nystrom wrote
[...]
Most of the other clubs in our area have eschewed membership in the ACA
PAC program and just go it alone. They rely on the principles of the
"Common Adventure Model" for liability protection. To date AFAIK, none
of the clubs or their members have been sued for anything that has
happened at any of their club functions, trips, etc., primarily because
their safety record is exemplary, as is ours. With the cost of insurance
going through the roof, I suspect that CAM is the wave of the future.

The question of insurance is the major issue. Our current club officers
are very nervous about going to a waver scheme -- feeling that they
would not provide any reliable protection for the club or the paddle
leaders.

The issue is how your trips are structured. If you have defined leaders,
they will have increased liability. If your trips are "let's get
together and paddle" affairs with no formal structure, they fall under
the auspices of the CAM. As for your club officers, depending on how
many there are and how many members you have, it may be cheaper to just
buy a personal liability policy for each officer than to pay for ACA
insurance.

I don't know if paddling is any more hazardous than playing
baseball. What do baseball clubs use?

I don't know. I assume that they must have some form of insurance, but
being a more mainstream activity, there are probably several sources for
it, unlike with kayaking.