Faffing – Just Don’t Do It

Inevitably, in a group of paddlers there are one or two people that are extraordinarily gifted at taking forever to get ready to launch or to finish packing up at the end of the day. In the UK the term Faffer or the act of faffing is used to describe these folks. Roughly translated it means to do everything except the thing you need to get accomplished.

Causes of faffing relate predominately to either being distracted or being disorganized.

You may be a faffer if:

Everyone in your group is loaded and ready to go and you’re still walking around in your drysuit.

You’re standing around in your paddling clothes talking to someone else who is loading their boat or getting changed.

You’re talking politics in a wetsuit.

You’ve looked 3 times under the car seat for that glove.

You spend 10 minutes deciding which layering piece to put on.

You’re fiddling with your windshield wiper blade while everyone else is carrying boats to the water.

Next level faffing:
Worse than just being and individual faffer is if you’re a faffer who causes a faffalanche – your initial faff causes another to faff and they cause someone else to faff and on and on. For example, you announce to the group that you’ve decided to add a layer under your drysuit, someone else rethinks their decision and also stops to add a layer, someone else decides to go for one last pee as long as the other two are changing. Faffalanche! Now you’re launching half an hour later.

To reduce the faffing factor try these tips:

Develop a routine. Doing something consistently the same way can make you more efficient and make it less likely that you’ll forget something.

Be organized. Keep your gear sorted and organized in different bags. Things that need to get packed in the boat in one bag, extra clothes in a different bag, things you’ll wear on the water in one bag. Make a checklist if you need to, either mental or written.

Just shut up and get your stuff done. There’s lots of time for socializing at the pub, on the water or when everyone is ready to go. Not many people can tell a story AND unload a boat or get dressed. If you make someone else stop what they’re doing to listen to your story, you’re spreading the faffing virus, don’t do it. This doesn’t mean we need to be antisocial while getting ready but we do need to stay focused.

Just make a decision. You’re no more likely to make a good decision after mulling it over for 10 minutes than you are making the same decision in 30 seconds.

One anti-faffing strategy for the end of a day of sea kayaking:

• Land on the beach, pull that empty mesh gear bag out of the hatch and load all the gear from the hatches into the bag and walk it up to the car.
• Go back and tandem carry 2 boats with a partner
• Load the now empty boats on the car or trailer
• Get changed, load wet gear into appropriate bags or bins
• Drive away

It’s not hard to avoid being a faffer but it may take some intentional focus if faffing has become habitual.