The Mechanics of Organising a Paddle – Planning
All paddle trips should be planned for safety and success (a positive experience for all).
Once you have the go ahead from the Committee you need to start to prepare the Float Plan detailing the destination, schedule, expected conditions, participant competencies, equipment requirements, and risk management strategies (often this is pre-existing). See the purpose of the float plan for an explanation of why this is a crucial document.
The RCC has a library of previous float plans and templates available to help you. Much of the work described below is already drafted for you. RCC members can contact the paddle convenor or a committee member to obtain a template or previous plan to help you.
Step 1 – Fill out the float plan details table
- Specify the meeting point, start point, turn around point (when it’s a round trip) and exit point. Add the date and times for each.
- List the trip organiser and any leaders and their contact numbers
- List the trusted emergency contact and their contact details
- State the time that the emergency contact should report if you have not checked in
At this stage you will not know the number of participants or boats. This can be added later after registrations close and before the start.
Step 2 – Complete the route description table.
Your route description doesn’t need to be extensive or detailed but should provide a description that will help the emergency services locate you if you are late returning or in the unlikely event of an emergency.
Your route description can also be useful to explain your plan to participants and in advertising the paddle. It can be copied and pasted into an email, the club calendar and the JustGo booking System. You can also point participants to the Destinations page of the website if you route is included there.
Add a map of your intended route. A good way to do this is by marking your route on a program like Google Maps and screen snip it. To mark a route in Google Maps, right click the start location on your mouse and then click points along your intended route. This is also an effective way of measuring the distance of your route.
Step 3 – Complete the Summary Event Plan Table
The first half of this table can be completed – trip title, names of organiser and leaders, the type of activity (the water grade) and the intention.
The remaining information (participation level, performance criteria and suitable boats criteria) can be drafted but must be reviewed and may need to be modified after the risk assessment is reviewed and completed.
For information on participation level see the club Flatwater Paddling Framework. Note, if the paddle trip is accepting F0 paddlers, you may choose to exclude complete beginners. For most club trips is it expected that participants can paddle the boat in a straight line and manoeuvre it around obstacles and can wet exit and swim in deep water. This can be specified.
Step 4 – Complete the Risk Assessment
For detailed information on the purpose and how to prepare or review a risk assessment see The Risk Assessment Process for River Canoe Club Paddle Trips. The risk assessment is the final section of the Float Plan but informs what is needed earlier in the plan
The club float plan templates and plans for previous trips have done a lot of the work for you already, especially for flat water paddles on local rivers, lakes and estuaries. For most trips your task is simply to review the risk assessment and make any adjustments needed or make additions for new risks.
Start by familiarising yourself with the risk assessment. Do the risks and controls for the waterway you will paddle look reasonable. Are there any additional things to consider that are not on the current risk assessment. If so, add these to the assessment.
Additional things to consider may include:
- Issues with waterway access or sharing
- Special Events – Sailing, Powerboat or Waterskiing events or festivals
- Recent environmental issues such as flooding
- River levels and dam releases.
- Any special needs of the paddling group (you may not know this before registrations)
No residual risk should be high, and any significant risks should be further controlled if reasonably practical to do so. It is important to ensure that any risk mitigating controls identified in the risk assessment are reflected in the main part of the float plan (pay particulate attention to the equipment lists and safety briefing notes).
For instance, if there are fallen trees of obstacles on a river, it may be safe for beginners if the river is not noticeably flowing. To mitigate the risk on the river you may decide that the paddle should not take place if a river is flowing more than a certain speed, the river is above a certain level, or you could limit the trip to paddlers experienced in moving water with more manoeuvrable boats. You could also use a combination of these controls.
Next Step – Planning
The float plan will be finalised later when you add participant details and weather and river conditions. However, what you have done now is going to be useful in making the arrangements. That is because a lot of the information already in your float plan can be copied and pasted into the registration system and paddle advertisement/notification. Click the Arrangement button above to see the next steps.