Such a fun thread! Keep them coming... Being bearly 55, I have only just got into kayaking in the past few years and certainly don't paddle the hundreds of miles some of the old farts do, but I try to make my miles count the best I can. I spent my wasted youth living as much as I could with the Inuit (Eskimo) of northern Canada and eventually gained a Master's degree related to their seal hunting practices. So an interest in kayaks and cold waters came early to me. Finally forced to make a living, I chose to teach and it's something I still do. A few years ago I bought a Boreal Designs kayak, made here in Quebec and took it north with me in 1997. Seakayaker magasine published my account of that trip last June. Since then I have been trying to assist young Inuit to get into kayaking as the skills have been lost to some extent in northern Canada. I stayed in southern Canada last summer and tried paddling the Ontario canal system, but gave it up after a week. I guess I needed more ice cubes in the water to make it interesting, or at least a lower level of diesal exhaust. I'll be heading back north again this summer with my boat! Like many northern paddlers in winter, I ski along the lakes and rivers looking forward to seeing the ice soften up and the waters sparkle once again. In the meantime it has been fun reading about all of you and the great love we all have for our chosen sport. 'Qajalauritsi!', which is to say, let's all go kayaking! Michael Bradley Hatley Village, Quebec, Canada *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
Might as well make an entry for this I suppose. I'm Richard Walker, from Houston, Texas. I paddle a Dagger Edisto with the "expedition" package, ie, a rudder. I paddle both on fresh and saltwater, from the urban Buffalo Bayou which runs through downtown Houston, to offshore in the near Gulf of Mexico. Have not taken my boat down any of the hill country rivers a few hours to the west, but hope to do that this year soon. >From the yak, I fish and do a little freediving, for a near complete blow-by-blow of my paddling experiences check out the link at the end of this message. In real life, I'm a programmer for a small local company, doing both end user windows application work, and *nix programming and admin. Richard Walker Houston, TX http://www.neosoft.com/~rww/kayak_log.html *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
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