Wow, I hadn't read all the bios till tonight....quite a list. I'm Tom and live in Rhode Island. I'm not an old fart (37) but I noticed a lot of my hobbies are populated by OF's. for fun, besides kayaking, I restore "stuff".. mostly cars (1940's Jeeps or 60's Chevrolets and tractors) also old radios (mostly old ham radios) and, for the last 5 years, my (old) house. I work as a GPS navigation applications engineer to support my passions. I grew up on Long Island (lonk eye-lan) and was always on the water in some sort of wooden rowboat. In those days a cement block was the anchor so any wind usually caused you to loose your boat. It created an endless shuffeling of boat ownership on the Creek. I ended up becoming an officer aboard Merchant ships...usually larger than 800ft. After seeing nothing but water and most of the world for a few years, I decided I never wanted to do "water stuff" again. *Sigh* I got a real job and rejected all invitations to sail, boat, ship, swim etc. I started kayaking while on a date in Monteray, CA. in '93 (the things you do for love). We spent the weekend taking intro 1 and 2 and it was pretty fun. My date is long gone but somehow I broke my vow of being a landlubber and I am back on the water. Since I have enough stuff to maintain in my life, I opt for maintenance free (yeah right) plastic boats. My daily ride is a Current Designs Squall. The guest boat is a Wilderness Systems Secret and the surf boat is a Neckey Rip. I have a roll...both sides. I usually paddle solo and I have never gone out in a group. Since I am only 2 blocks from the water, I paddle all year. Winter is quite nice since you are usually assured of complete solitude. Racing has kept me in tune. Latest dreams? I want to take a vacation....its been years. I think a time in Colorado learning WW kayaking would be cool. The thread on garages was gutwrenching. I just finished building my 2 story 24x24 garage. Cars MUST be garaged....especially the old ones! put the boats on the second floor... or in the living room. Have fun *************************************************************************** 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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