Interview with Saul Kinderis

Saul and his friend Larry's kayak trip turned ugly when they fell victim to a storm around Washington State's San Juan Islands.

Has your experience with Larry changed you in anyway?

It's made me into a much more responsible trip leader. Up until this trip, whenever I led a group on biking or kayaking or hiking trips, I'd run the trips as a democracy, even if I didn't agree with the decision that was made.

Now, I have limits to what I allow a vote to decide, because I realize that as the trip leader I have a responsibility to make sure everyone makes it home safely, and sometimes that will mean that I have to make an unpopular decision, even if it's only to keep one person safe, even if the rest of the group had the skills needed. This has meant on some trips, changing the route or the destination and on one even hiring a charter boat to carry a group of us back during a spring storm.

This trip forced me to better understand group dynamics, even though their were only two of us, much of what we did was predictable from a group dynamics perspective, if one person says they can do it, most others will say they can as well, even if they either can't do it, or don't have the knowledge to assess if they can do it. That's why the leader must hold him or herself responsible for making that decision for the group.

How often do you think about it?

This trip has shaped me, so that while I may not think about the trip itself every day, the lessons from the trip are part of my decision-making process on a daily basis.

How soon did you get back into a sea kayak?

I was paddling again later that week.

What effect has it had on your relationship with Larry, are you still as competitive with each other?

We still tend to compete with each other, but this trip has also changed the relationship, as we both think more about the safety of each other and no longer egg each other on as much as we used to. We also live pretty far apart (about 80 kilometres) so we don't do as many things together as we used to.

How often do you kayak together these days?

While I kayak between 50 and 100 days out of the year, Larry and I live far apart and we may only kayak together maybe once per year.

Have you been back to the San Juan islands, and across the Rosario Strait?

I've paddled across Rosario and other straits in the San Juan and Gulf Islands over 100 times since this trip. Larry and I actually did this same route together along with my friends Chuck, Jurga and Jim about five years ago. I'll be going again with some other friends in a few weeks.

What other sports do you do now?

While I still run a little bit, I mostly bicycle and kayak, and especially enjoy touring in remote areas. I usually do at least one remote multi-day kayak trip each season and two or three remote bicycle trips, where I may not see anyone other than whoever is on the trip with me, for several days. I especially like to kayak or canoe in Alaska and in British Columbia. With bicycling, I like British Columbia, Washington and Oregon for summer tours and the desert mountain areas of California and Arizona for winter tours.

What advice would you give to other would-be sea kayakers?

Understand your skill and equipment limitations as well as those of your companions, and then make your decisions based on that understanding, and if you have doubts and the likely outcome is pretty bad, pick a better alternative.

I would also really recommend having all your equipment in working order and checking it before each launch. Make sure all sea kayakers get some basic boat handling training. White water courses are a great place for that. Learn how to brace, ferry across currents, wet exit and re-enter as well as roll. The more things you know how to do well, the less likely you'll not have the skills to stay alive.

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