TRIUMPH
"Stay the course" is a phrase used in the context of a war or battle. It means to pursue a goal regardless of obstacles or criticism.

We are in a water safety war of ‘mediocrity opposing professionalism'. We are lacking the spirit of service and rendering culture rant of spirit through service.

Shared values and standards are raised by battle flags of associations and instructors who draw and quarter throwing stones at one another in mute silence, meanwhile the issue festers; where are our seamanship skills?

What is the best way to conduct a rescue, stay safe and finish the ending? Doesn’t THIS matter!

These turf wars are seen around the world. We need to be cognizant of these errors in territorial mapping.

We have fewer shared values while simultaneously more open means of prompt communication are available, yet we suck.

This does not devalue the need for qualification and vetting as instructors for students. Our standards are rooted in boating safety not Swiftwater rescue or water rescue itself, we are boaters first, utility use is a secondary pursuit.

There is no ‘secret squirrel stuff’ going on with our company. We have loaded more free content, shared more videos, shared valuable posts and blog content, PDF’s and PowerPoints, awarded more scholarships, created more open doors of connectivity than any Rescue Water Craft association or private company.

We are a business and all businesses - just like associations requires funding and ways to generate revenue. We did not use taxpayer funds to build our company; we paid the way ourselves. We bought our own equipment. We didn’t sell or promote classes as a branding tool for products that other companies would like to see penetrate this market.

We never used equipment from public safety agencies as if it were our own to sell courses. We have not used government assets as our own. We were not paid to learn or get certified or train by taxpayer money, we paid the way ourselves. We led from the waterline and risked our life with no backup or support system.

We are the only qualified company in the world that has done this in our community. Apparently, we are despised by many. This is a reflection of internal corruption in our community and our willingness to shoulder the responsibility and scrutinize our motives as we hold a steady line. We are not cowards and we do not weaken our community; we protect it from harm.

Judge character for yourself. We don’t generate problems. Our intention is to be a solution to tyranny and recklessness. We are a conduit of community by inviting others to tell their operational truth.

Does this give us leverage? Yes, it does - we made commitments based on sacrifice no others would be willing to do unless a badge was held in front of them. We went to every waterway on the continents to discover the weather, the water, cultural differences and personalities, language and genders. We did this at our own expense to benefit others. We listened to people. We respected others. We respect our ancestry in the maritime community.

No, we have not been perfect, we have made mistakes and remedial corrections after eating humble pie and continue to do so. Continually we asked for advice and seek out boating knowledge from around the world and throughout time.

For our human capacity, we communicate intelligibly to our community. We do not block or restrict others. We don’t have that on our spiritual account. We do not allow predators to lie about their negative representation of our company.

We do everything we can to help our competitors and their clients. We reach out and invite these instructors in our community, we have certified them in our own courses and paid for their instructor courses so they could thrive. They do not acknowledge this publicly. We know one another and there are no secrets here.

To grow our community is vital so we all spiral upward. We negotiate the peace in our community while others hold onto war and its deep and longstanding. We do our best to take the mote our of our eye, and we encourage others to do the same.

Humans personalize the sacredness of water safety; (much like everything in life) we are obligated to give back and to equalize what we receive. We are not avatars of a group, or a twitter mob of anger, we are not interested in power or pitting others against one another, we are not appalling.

We dive deep, we do not tread the shallow waters, we go where it is uncomfortable and we speak the correctness we also aspire to represent. We believe in fundamental training truths and accountability.

Notice how our phrasing is inclusive? It’s about we, us, you, ours; not mine, me and I.

I am hated because I know who these people are and they know I have their number. They don’t want to shoulder the responsibility of our community properly. They want territory, and this accounts for cowardice. This weakens their teams, their command, their student cadre and our maritime community. The fault does not lie anywhere else but with us as respective instructors and companies. We know who we are and who they are.

Judge our training character. Judge our ways, words and actions, judge our student behaviors. Bring it to the table for remedial action and networking = how to make things better.

Judge our safety record, the highest in the industry ever.

Judge our 37,000 hours of instruction and the programs we assisted to develop.

Judge that we created the Military programs and MRV training. Just that we created the certification program to operate in big wave conditions aka NOAA's High Surf Advisories. Judge that we create Night Operation training. Judge that we created Swiftwater/flood and tsunami response training. Judge that we created the only training and manuals available for Course Marshals and water event safety.

We did it all, and we did it with thousands of professionals and competent companies supporting the mission. We did not do this alone, we did it as a team with the Personal Water Craft industry and professionals who need solutions for their work, but we were the impetus, the genesis and they continue the outreach.

There is along pedigree of partnership that has benefited thousands in over 40 countries, we did not do this alone, they did it by participation.

So, if you are better, we become better. If companies or individuals would stop being defensive and break the wall with humility, and that somebody in that structure has the courage to speak the truth instead of defending cowardice, who is it going to be? Who is this person going to be? It is going to be me.

People are afraid to stand up because they fear the reality of discrimination and retribution. That is a real fear, the bullies are angry, disturbing and aggressive. There are ethical decisions being made. There is no weight on my conscious make sure there is none on yours.

I do not have fear here because I have been facing discrimination by my water safety colleagues for decades, so its water off the back of this duck. They helped me more than they realize and I want to help them back, with camaraderie and respect.

Let’s not cause harm. Let’s not lie to our water safety community. Let’s investigate together fact versus fiction. Let’s challenge one another’s methods without fear and insecurity. We do this for our students we should have no problem doing it for one another.

We are a unifying force of goodwill, that is the identify of K38; we are not adversarial or stabbing others in a jealous attempt of academy. We rely on evidence.

My company has faced sexism like a pyroclastic flow. My instructors were judged because of me being a woman, which is so unfair to their desire to teach. Did it stop them? Not at all.

And what does this mean? Scandalous episodes that have backfired consistently, the attacks are real and perplexing. Have any of these folks taken our training and decided for themselves?

Yes, I had 4 men from Hawai’i come to train with me. As soon as they met me, they told me to my face they wanted to see for themselves if I was a liar or not. They did not sugar coat their intention. As we migrated through the training, respect was exchanged.

Behaviors were challenged and corrected; admissions of a goal were mutable and we agreed to the process we partnered with in spirit. This is how peace is negotiated, by action and partnership, we did not exchange lies. Thank you Pohaku and Pake. Value is allegiance to believe in something better than ourselves, and we have to earn it by effort.

Today there are new companies who are working hard on their own effort and merit and they encounter a lot of negative attacks and jealousy. We can recognize it because we have borne the brunt of it for years. We want nothing more than their ultimate and sustained success.

Humans are not basically good, they are good and bad, some are downright evil. This is not escaped within the hierarchy of the water safety community. It’s not discussed publicly out of fear.

Knowing this is the first step of community. We need both sides, we need the good and the bad because each person believes they are the best that is within, regardless of what the perception is without.

I am not a victim of anything other than success and the subsequent suffering and sacrifice it demands furthering the support of others in responsible measures. I was willing to take on that responsibility.

Let’s join forces and create an unstoppable team of safety warriors.

We are not rational as humans we have complex private issues that plague us; when we join together, we can help one another become rational, and we will change our water safety culture. Our young people deserve good mentors worthy of their audience. Not pride and ego, they need caring selfless mentors.

We are not good by ourselves. We are good when we come together united. We need to join our community so we can all become better at our respective goals.

We have to take care of our water rescue community with a value of sacrifice and service.

We invite everyone to participate and come to the table of accountability.

This is how we stop the common phrase often uttered after every mishap:
WE WILL LEARN LESSONS FROM THIS

In reality we will repeat them and kill people, so we better be ready for that.

Join the Rescue Water Craft Association: www.RescueWaterCraft.org

The Truth is the Way and the Path of Right, but it is destructive to painful to recognize what we need to change.

Use at your own risk. Please take a qualified Rescue Water Craft training course and maintain proper records and respect all the PWC, RWC, PPE, and gear OEM manufacturer warning labels and cautions.