Doug Lloyd wrote: > > ...<snip>... > ... find out what gear, boat and techniques work best for you. Do draw > from organized instruction and good counsel - that which is universally > advisable to follow, and do always make sure all the basics are covered. But > do, in the end, do it your own way ...<snip>... Yawn. Seriously, do you really think that people need to be told this?!? It is obvious that experts disagree, that these experts have found different ways of doing things (all of which may work to some extent in some circumstances), and that one must therefore pick and choose, based on one's own analysis and experiences and those of others (yadda, yadda, yadda). So what does this have to do with your complaints about people who express strong opinions? When I take up any new sport, I seek out people who are strongly opinionated. I rather enjoy hearing about a technique from someone who is passsionate about it, and then to hear from others who view things differently, but who are no less passionate. I have gained a lot from discussing the use of paddle floats with Matt Broze and Derek Hutchinson, and from listening to Matt complain about Derek's views (or vice versa) on a subject. The same holds true for the ongoing dialogues about the use of rudders versus skegs versus neither, feathered versus unfeathered paddles, high-angle versus low-angle strokes, hardshells versus folders, etc. There is nothing less interesting or more useless than someone who says "whatever works". Finally, I don't understand why some feel the need to preface every statement (or presentation) by saying "In my opinion..." or "While others may view things differently...". When I hear people say such things, I think to myself "Gee, really?!?" :-) When I want opinions on something, I seek out those who are passionate in their views. It is the competition among ideas that leads us closer to the answers that we seek. Dan Hagen Bellingham, Washington *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************Received on Sun Jan 31 1999 - 10:56:06 PST
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