The Novice Clinic had plenty of volunteers for instructors this year and I was only scheduled for two of the weekends. But Maryly was scheduled for this weekend and I invited myself to come along. The novices were taken out in the cold (50F) water of the San Francisco Bay at China Camp near San Rafael. They worked on the forward stroke and different rescues like the T-rescue. As an unofficial observer I just paddled around at a distance and practiced my own roll (this time with ear-plugs on).
This was a two day class, with everyone camping nearby. I joined Maryly that evening and was assigned some assistant instructor duties the next morning. More practice at the T-rescue, a short paddle, and a game of "Frisbee water polo" to give the novices a use for some of the paddle strokes they had learned. The instructors stood by to help rescue any player who fell over. But if someone was given a foul, they were required to fall over, exit their boats, and rescue themselves. This kept them out of the game for quite a while. I told the novices near me that if they could roll back up their fouls would be canceled but nobody took me up on that offer.