Sculling Safety Manual by Mike Sullivan

Sculling Safety Manual Review Sculling books are relatively scarce and ones dealing with safety even scarcer, so it is great to see one that concentrates on this aspect of the sport. This 7 page e-book briefly describes some of the hazards of sculling safely and things that the sculler should do to prepare and/or avoid the eventuality. The potential reader has to bear in mind that this has a US bias as the author wrote the pamphlet to inform scullers at his club, rather than a wider readership base. Good advice regarding temperature (water and air) and conditions assessments are given. Clothing and Personal Floatation Devices (PFDs) are briefly discussed. A good short section on preparing for an outing is included with a checklist. The majority of the e-book (4 pages) is devoted to re-entering the scull in the event of capsize. A brief description and photographs lead to a very clear understanding of what is needed. The author Mike Sullivan is clearly experienced in safety in the sport. In this manual he concentrates on how to get back into a boat at the expense of expanding on some of the other elements that he briefly mentions. The e-book clearly references the US, so it would be useful to have a temperature translation (F to C), but also to let readers know where to obtain local water temperatures from, and the effect of wind-chill on air temperature. I would like to see more on clothing (like the fact that light cotton socks are easier to swim in than waterproof socks), boat safety features ? the key importance of shoe heel restraints to escaping the shell, avoiding capsize, immediate capsize actions, different actions in different temperatures etc. In the UK at low temperatures in rivers we do not advocate trying to get back in at all, but either getting the core out of the water fast, or straddle and paddle ? but with an upturned boat, not a righted one. I would also have liked to see different approaches to river vs coastal and lake, but understand the specific interests of the author. A short manual like could ideally point to other resources and I would have liked each short reference to note some of the many web resources, which it does not. The information it contains is good, and for ?2.50 you can never put a value on safety, but the title is slightly misleading as over 60% of the document is devoted to getting back into a single from the water with little reference to other survival options.Rating: [TEXT_OF_5_STARS]