[Paddlewise] Who we are

I'm Karl Coplan.  I paddle a Guillemot Coastal designed by Nick 
Schade and home built with a great deal of e-mail support 
from Nick.

I built my kayak last winter.  Until then, most of my paddling life 
has been in canoes.  I am a firm believer that you can never have too 
many small boats.  Right now, we have the Guillemot, 
an Old Town 18' tripper canoe, an Alden Ocean Shell, two tupperware 
keowee kayaks that we use for swamp mucking and as landing craft for
our Tartan 30 sailboat, an Optimist sailing dinghy for our children, and
 a windsurfer.

I can't usually justify taking weekend family time for a solitary 
activity like kayaking, so I have tried to work my kayaking into my 
morning commute.  Last year I managed to paddle across the Tappan Zee 
(Hudson River)
to Tarrytown and bike the rest of the way to my office in White 
Plains about 2-3 times per week between May and October.   I quit 
when I started arriving home after dark, because it wasnt fair to my 
wife who didnt know if I was ok, even if I did.  (I actually tried 
cell-phoning home once when I delayed my crossing to let two tug and 
barge rigs pass, but found bracing with one hand while digging out 
and dialing the cell phone with the other a frustrating experience).

I have a reliable onside roll (about 95%) which I practice at the 
end of my paddle every evening.  Havent ever even tried an offside 
roll (maybe next year).  I figure on a paddle float re-entry and roll 
to save my butt in extreme conditions if my roll fails.

For family paddling, I still like our Old Town canoe, which can 
carry our family of four, the dog, and a week's worth of camping gear. 
 When I first bought that canoe, its rated carrying capacity (950 
pounds) was more than the car I drove it around on ( a Honda CRX).  
The canoe has long outlasted the car!

For work, I have the best legal job in the world.  I co-direct the 
Pace Environmental Litigation Clinic at Pace Law School in White 
Plains, NY.  We take ten law students each term and turn them loose 
prosecuting pollution and other environmental cases against polluters 
on the Hudson River and Long Island Sound.

While I am mostly a lurker on this list, I really enjoy hearing the 
comments and the controversies.  Keep it up!

--Karl


Professor Karl S. Coplan
Pace Environmental Litigation Clinic, Inc.
78 North Broadway
White Plains, N.Y.  10603
kcoplan_at_genesis.law.pace.edu
(914) 422-4343
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