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Registered students, faculty, staff, and their spouses are eligible for club membership. Only students are eligible for voting membership.
Membership expires at the first meeting of the fall quarter or at the time a person is no longer eligible for membership. Spousal memberships expire when the membership of the related club member expires.
'Instructor' memberships are provided to individuals who are not eligible to join but whose presence on river trips enhances paddling education and safety. Instructor memberships will be designated by the club executive board with an updated list publicized each October.
To be an active member a person must:
Definitions:
The 1998-99 dues schedule is:
| Membership Type | Dues | |
| Lake | $20 | |
| River | $40 | |
| Self-sufficient | $5 |
The above dues payments apply regardless of when during the academic year an individual becomes a member. Thus, membership fees are like annual fishing licenses where the price is the same whether 365 days are left in the season or one day is left in the season.
Club ID cards are color coded to indicate the type of membership. ID cards are to be shown to office personnel at the Waterfront Activities Center (WAC) when signing out the club boathouse key and club equipment. ID cards will be provided to new members only after they have successfully demonstrated a kayak wet exit and tow to a club officer.
Membership forms may be completed and dues may be paid during normal business hours at the WAC and at the HUB information desk. Dues and membership forms are also collected by the club treasurer at the autumn quarter meeting and at the first several pool sessions of the autumn quarter.
The officers of the club are the president, vice-president, treasurer, secretary, and equipment manager. (See the Club Constitution for information on members who serve as 'club representatives' to the Student Activities Office).
Club officers are elected at a meeting held at the end of each spring quarter. The term of office for all officers and committee chairpersons will be from the spring quarter election meeting of one year to the spring quarter election meeting of the following year. Any vacancies in the officer and committee chairmanship positions that arise will be filled to serve the remainder of-the term by vote of the executive board.
The club executive board may appoint members to serve as 'beginner trip coordinator,' 'environmental affairs chairperson,' 'safety instructor,' 'canoe chairperson,' 'racing committee chairperson,' and other ad hoc positions.
Each fall, the safety committee will draw up a list of ocean touring trip coordinators and whitewater trip coordinators for Class II, III, and IV water. Also at this time, the club executive committee will designate individuals that will receive instructor status memberships.
Unless other arrangements are announced in it club newsletter, club meetings will be held the evening of the second Thursday of each quarter in the upstairs meeting rooms of the Waterfront Activities Center (WAC). Often these meetings include potluck suppers, slide and videotape shows, and other presentations. The final club meeting of the academic year is the election meeting held during the last two weeks of the spring quarter. Newsletters will announce all club meetings.
Pool sessions will be held at the Hec Edmundson Pavilion pool each Sunday morning 9:00 am to 11:00 am during the fall through spring quarters. Pool sessions will not usually be scheduled during Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Spring breaks. Typically, there are a few Sundays each quarter when other users of the pool preempt UKC use. When this happens, the preempted dates will be announced with a note on the bulletin board on the clubhouse door.
Only members may attend pool sessions, and those doing so are expected to arrive at the WAC boathouse at 8:30 am on Sunday to help transport boats to the pool. (Those who own their own boats may go directly to the Hec Ed Pool. However, if they have room on their roof racks, it would be helpful for these members to stop off at the boathouse to pick up a few boats before they go to the pool.)
Boats have to be rinsed out thoroughly (float bags removed) outside the pool building before bringing the boats inside to the pool. Care must be taken in moving boats into and out of the pool building to avoid damaging benches and tiles. When paddling in goe pool, avoid sharp blows with your bow or stern and the sides of the pool. At one time tennis ball halves were taped to the bow and stern points of boats. Because the damaged tennis balls would often fill up with dirt that was difficult to rinse out, however, this practice was discontinued.
Beginner trips usually follow Sunday morning pool sessions. By custom, beginner trip coordinators do not pay transportation costs to and from the river.
The club vice-president is responsible for organizing pool sessions and making arrangements for beginner trip coordinators. The vice-president will also organize safety instruction, part of which will take place at pool sessions.
All new members are required to demonstrate a kayak wet exit and tow prior to use of club equipment on any body of water. This test is given at the first pool session of the fall quarter and other pool sessions as needed. Other arrangements can be made by contacting the club vice-president.
At least three club members must be a part of any club river trip. Further, club equipment can only be used on club trips. The most important exception to this rule is when someone is participating in a slalom race, slalom race practice, or whitewater rodeo where other paddlers will be present. Such an exception is made on a case by case, prior approval basis by the club president. The three club member rule does not apply to paddling on Lake Washington. However, the three club member rule does apply for all ocean touring and other flat water paddling on water other than Lake Washington. (For other rules governing the use of the Club's ocean touring boats, see XII-B below and also Section VI of the the Safety Guidelines on ocean touring safety rules.)
Club trips, and thus the use of club boats and other equipment, are restricted to rivers listed as 'permitted' under Section VII of the document titled Safety Guidelines. The water flow limits specified in the 'Permitted Rivers List' further constrain the choice of rivers for a club trip. Note that club equipment use on Class IV water is limited to a few runs and Class V use is not permitted. (See the Safety Guidelines for other rules concerning trip coordinators responsibilites and required safet rocedures and safett equipment.
Boat use is permitted on multiday club trips of more than three days and to rivers that are not named on the 'Permitted Rivers List' only with the approval of the club president or equipment manager. Such decisions will be made on a case-by-case, prior approval basis.
Details concerning safety are described in the Safety Guidelines. Key safety rules include:
The club vice-president will organize pool and on-river instruction sessions in basic rescue and first aid techniques. Instruction in reading water, paddling technique, and avoiding and coping with hazardous obstacles and hydraulics will also be organized-by the vice-president.
Club equipment used on Lake Washington must be signed out by completely filling out a 'yellow card' listing all equipment by number where possible.
Yellow cards for Lake Washington paddling are obtained and filed with the WAC office. For river trips and all other paddling yellow cards needn't be filled out but 'trip sheets', must be. Trip sheets contain the same information as the yellow cards and are filed in a notebook in the boathouse.
Both yellow cards and trip sheets contain statements obligating users to compensate the club for the replacement and repair of lost or damaged equipment, or to perform acceptable repairs themselves. The equipment manager will be the judge of what repair work is acceptable to the degree that compensation isn't required. Members may appeal the decision of the equipment manager to the executive board. The executive board will determine the amount of compensation if necessary.
Yellow cards and trip sheets will be used to determine who is responsible for lost or damaged equipment. An honor system of self-reporting by those responsible for losses or damages is expected to prevail, however. Other purposes are served by filling out yellow cards and trip sheets. These forms are retained and used to document equipment use in lobying for UW/IMA support. They are also used to document the recreational use of certain rivers that may be candidates for dams or increased water withdrawals.
The equipment manager will organize work parties to repair or construct boats and equipment. Work parties will be announced in advance in club newsletters or at club meetings. Those who participate in a work party have priority in the choice of all equipment (wet suits, spray skirts, helmets, life vests, paddles, and boats) for all subsequent river trips up to the time of the next work party, when new priority is established. Equipment is otherwise allocated on a first-come, first-served basis.
Exceptions to the above rules may be made by the club president but only on a case by case, prior approval basis. The president will be expected to seek the advice of advanced paddlers on the safety committee when it is appropriate. One reason why the responsibility inherent in this authority is placed with the president is the fundamental problem of anticipating river difficulty and boater skill at some future time. Such foresight would be required under a more structured, less flexible, and probably less practical set of organizational rules requiring a skill rating for each paddler.
It will soon-become obvious to new members that this club, like any other, faces unavoidable problems in maintaining and controlling the use of its 'commonly owned' property. The only practical solution to this problem is to promote strong bonds of trust and friendship within our group. Please join us in doing