While responding to Ralph Diaz' comments about making himself visible on the water in NYC harbor, it occurred to me that it might be useful for each of us to post a paragraph or two which describes our "paddling profile." You see, because I know where Ralph is coming from (no, Ralph, it's too crowded out here -- I didn't mean for you to actually *come out* here <g>), and where and what he paddles, I have a pretty good feel for how to interpret his remarks. For folks who post frequently (guilty), the profile probably won't tell readers much more than they already know about that person. However, less aggressive posters leave fewer tracks, and it might be good to get a "context" for their remarks. In that vein, here's my "profile:" Old guy (but not as old as Ralph!) who mainly paddles west coast of the US (Pacific Northwest) and BC (Vancouver Island and the Charlottes), with a lot of time on the Lower Columbia River (separates states of OR and WA). Seven-eight seasons of experience, year-round (it rarely freezes here). Done quite a few multi-day trips, but most trips are day adventures in local waters. Not an adrenaline junkie. Can handle reasonably rough water, but do not seek out really gnarly stuff (like Whilden and Hagen do, I think!). Mainly in it for the solitude and peace of paddling. Do not have a roll, but working gradually on developing one. Damn good -- and fast -- with a paddlefloat reentry. Better at staying out of trouble than most. On really bad days, the beach feels really good to me. My son refers to me as "The Admiral" because I own four boats: two fiberglass Eddyline singles (Wind Dancer [cargo barge -- nice for long trips]; Sea Star [the SO's boat -- faster than the WD]); a Pygmy Osprey Std (stitch and glue plywood -- made from a kit -- fastest and lightest boat I own -- my day tripper); and, a Folbot Greenland II double (excellent tripping boat -- carries a wagonload of stuff and is incredibly stable -- would not want to be in really heavy water with this, though). My SO and I regard this as the best craft for longer tours in protected waters. Locally, I am known as ... Tarpman! ... for my talents with a 10 x 12 nylon protective envelope. (My son is "Inferno Boy!" for his talents with the trash fire. The SO is known as "The Queen.") I have no ties with commercial ventures related to sea kayaking, though I did some guiding twenty years ago when I was very active as a climber (mostly glaciated volcanoes emphasizing moderate angle ice, some high-angle rock climbing and a lot alpine ascents). Over 30 years of back country experience in the West. None in the eastern US -- that would be ... east of the Rockies. <G> Who's next? -- Dave Kruger Astoria, OR *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
>> In that vein, here's my "profile:" At 37 I don't think I'm as old as Dave or Ralph 8^). Currently living in Manassas (Northern) Virgina, notorius for it's brush with Lorana and John Bobbit. Today marked my 7th trip in a kayak. Six day trips on the Potomac river, and one day trip on a small local lake. I've spent a couple of years fishing in a plastic 17' canoe. I paddle a Guillemot SK designed by Nick Schade and built by myself. I started building in the middle of November and took my maiden voyage New Years day. Given my choice, I'd prefer the water be smooth as glass but I have a good time when there is a strong wind at my back on the "second half" of my trip. I enjoy the solitude and the busy life. You never know what is going to happen in either case. No roll, but I hope to remedy that before too long. I've practiced with a paddle float once just to know I could do it if I had too. More practice on that a little later, but in the protected waters I paddle it's not very difficult for me. I used to run a lot but my knees have gotten to where I spent more time recovering than running. The kayak is my substitute for exercise. Cold weather gear is expensive, so I'm waiting till summer before I introduce the wife and kids to kayaking. I want to make sure they will stick to it before making any heavy investments. One boy 14 this month, he can almost wear my cold weather gear, but still a little too big for him. My daughter, 9, loves everything outdoors. If one of them becomes as addicted to kayaking as me, I suspect it will be her. Both like to go fishing with me in my canoe, although I never take them in the winter. The wife likes fishing also, but I suspect she won't like the amount of labor involved in kayaking. Right now I'm just developing my technique. The first time out I spent the bulk of the time paddling in circles, but trying to go straight. I've finally gotten some control, but I had to switch to a greenland style paddle to do it. I think I just paddle too hard. With the greenland I do pretty well at holding a course and I find it easier to paddle hard into the wind when I need to. The boat needs a final sanding and a few coats of varnish to be finished. I'm just having so much fun that I don't want to give up a few weekends to finish the boat 8^) Woody *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
Name is Jim Tynan and I'm a kayakin'-crazed 46 year old out of Pike Road AL. Been paddling for about two years now -- mostly sea/touring, but a bit of white water as well (Class 2-3 maybe). Got a roll, but not as consistent at it as I'd like to be. I hit it about 70 percent of the time. It worries me a bit 'cause I paddle a bit on the edge. Love rough water, "surfing," etc. -- once paddled the outer fringes of Hurricane Danny in the open Gulf in the most spectacular 12-15 foot swells I've ever ridden -- an awesome paddle by anyone's measure -- and NO I wasn't alone!!! <<grin>> I spend most of my time in the Gulf down on the Florida panhandle. Favorite area -- Shell Island/St Andrew Bay near Panama City. I have also spent many a day and night on Lake Martin in south central Alabama [moonlight paddles are beyond description up there!]. It's a huge and beautiful man-made lake [once the largest man-made in the U.S.]. Average day paddle is about 8-12 miles -- longest 15-plus. I own two kayaks -- 17-foot Solstice ST by Current Designs and a 14-foot plastic Spectrum by Perception. The Spectrum is great on the local rivers here like the Coosa and Tallapoosa. These days I live, eat and breathe kayaking -- and suspect that won't change as long as the body holds out. [And I work out almost daily to ensure that doesn't happen!] And lastly, though I'm fairly new to this list [used to follow the alt.rec.paddle news goup regularly] -- I have to say the professionalism, knowledge and talent in this group is incredible -- and it's great to be able to read and share the thoughts, experiences and know-how with the lot of you! <<hoisted paddle>> <<loud whoop>> Cheers to all! Jim kayakbound_at_att.net http://home.att.net/~kayakbound *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
I started paddling seven or eight years ago - can't remember exactly as CRS is setting in with age. Another old guy at 58 this year. Been thru a number of decked boats and switched to a 19" x 19' surf ski two years ago. I paddle after work at a local lake near Paoli PA and on weekends in the ocean and bay around Ocean City/Pleasantville NJ when there isn't enough wind to windsurf. Got one of those electronic speedometers on day one and have been playing with it every since. My best average for 5 miles so far is 6.4 mph. ----------------------- Pete Cresswell *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
I've been paddling canoes off and on since scouts in the sixties, and had a whitewater kayak back in the 80s -- my, how things have changed; it was nearly as long as a short sea kayak. I've done a fair amount of backpacking, too, but when a friend got a sea kayak a couple of years ago, it seemed like a good idea, since the old knees were starting to go at 51. I paddle an Old Town Heron -- a plastic boat, not too elegant, but a good tripper and does what I want it to do, which is mostly lake paddling around southern Michigan, with the occastional careful Great Lakes excursion. I want to get started doing longer trips, but only recently have begun developing partners, and am reluctant to do too much backcountry stuff solo. While I'm envying some of those people that are retired, I don't think I would retire well. I run a little country weekly newspaper -- manage it for a nearly absentee owner, edit it, do layout, sell ads, set type, the whole thing. It's interesting, and since I'd never do too well in a city situation, it suits me just fine. I'm probably no great shakes on a skill level as a kayaker level, but I do get out and paddle -- I keep a log, and know it was 143 times for 580 miles last year -- and do try to work on skill development as I can. I'm not a major gearhead, but like to have things pretty well organized. -- Wes Boyd -- ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Wes Boyd 0 wesboyd_at_dmci.net boydwe_at_dmci.net (Listservers) \__Q http://www2.dmci.net/users/wesboyd/default.htm \_| http://www2.dmci.net/users/wesboyd/kayak.htm \----------\^----------/ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^0^^^^^^^^^^^^ *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
Wes brings up something that I'd not really thought of, but am now... You see, it was in Jackson that I got the "kayak bug." It's where my dog and I fished, matter of fact it was on the Grand River that I did better at walleye than on Erie... :) Perhaps some day I'll go back-NOT IN THE WINTER :) I think Wes is in good kayaking territory, I wasn't so sure when I lived there, but I do have some memories... :) Sorry to but in again... Tom... { "Three left turns often make a right-The trick is surviving the attempts..."} Kirkland, Wa. <gadfly_at_isomedia.com> <http://www.isomedia.com/homes/gadfly/> *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
>In that vein, here's my "profile:" I do not remember a time when I did not paddle boats. I started out in canoes. My father's idea of a good vacation was to go some place where there put-ins for the canoe. We paddled on lakes around New England and in the ocean in Connecticut and Maine. When I was about 12, my father got a little kayak kit which he built. Unfortuantely, my brother being older, he got to use the kayak most of the time. W About the time I got out of college, my parents bought a piece of land on the coast of Maine. The canoe and my father's little kayak, and a fiberglass white water kayak I got second hand worked OK for exploring the area, but I needed a more suitable boat, and "Small Boat Journal" was full of these things called "ocean kayaks" which seemed perfect for what I wanted to do. Having little money and no idea where to find an ocean kayak even if I could afford one, I decided to build one. Perusing through Small Boat Journal, I decided on what seemed like likely dimensions, drew something up and built it. It was great. (At least relative to what I had been paddling before) I shortly had a job as an electrical engineer which was not as mentally stimulating as I would have liked, and I was out growing my first effort, so I occupied my mind with drawing new "better" designs. I continued working as an engineer as I developed boats to match my evolving paddling skills. Springs and summers were spent paddling, falls spent designing new boats and winters and springs spent building the designs. I started selling some of my designs as a hobby. The engineering job moving to a different state and meeting the woman I would marry, helped me make the decision to take the hobby full time. Part of the goal during this period was to write a book about how to build kayaks. Cathy and I got married and I continued to work on the book. Cathy died, and I finished up the book. Working on getting the book to book stores and other ventures for the past year and a half has limited my on-the-water time and I am currently working to rectify that problem. My current paddling tastes run from low-key gunkholing in sheltered esturaries to surfing post-hurricane waves, Long Island Sound in sight of NYC to down east Maine where seeing someone else in a kayak is still a minor event, and I also get in a little white water between running a business and the saltwater paddling. Nick Nick Schade Guillemot Kayaks 10 Ash Swamp Rd Glastonbury, CT 06033 (860) 659-8847 Schade_at_guillemot-kayaks.com http://www.guillemot-kayaks.com/ >>>>"It's not just Art, It's a Craft!"<<<< *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
Thanks, Dave, for starting an interesting and community-building thread. I paddle a black and white Necky Arluk 1.8, and have had that beautful boat for 5 years now. Been paddling for about 9 years. I'm 52 for a few more days. I don't paddle much in the winter but run in or out, or row indoors,do aerobics to sayin shape. I can't roll. Yet. Maybe never. I avoid gnarly water and silly conditions whenever I can or whenever I have the smarts to check out developing conditions. I have had some interesting times, nevertheless. I can do a paddle float self rescue and some assisted rescues. I need to practice these more often. There are endless areas to explore around Victoria where I live off the west coast of Canada. The farthest north I've been paddling is Telegraph Cove up by Port McNeill, Port Hardy. There are many appealing day paddles to be found after a half hour drive to local put ins. I love kayak camping. I'm afraid of surf. Fuelled by chocolate covered espresso coffee beans. I teach children wih special needs and unless I'm going to school myself, I get a good (unpaid) summer break. My last big trip was to Nootka Sound two summers ago. Diane McNally, O.F., Victoria, BC *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
Howdy - I've had my ~1980 Klepper double for about a year now, been lurking on the list for a few months. We only got out 3 or 4 times last summer, but hope to do better this time around. I live outside of Anchorage, Alaska, so the season won't start (for me, anyway) for a few months yet. (Our first trip in the boat, and the instigation for buying it, started the first week of June last year, to Wood-Tikchik State Park, and the ice on the lakes was *just* breaking up.) We've also been out for a few days from Homer, in Ketchemak Bay, and we shlepped the bags down to St. John for Thanksgiving. The warm water certainly was nice, but the scenery (above the waves) is a lot better up here! Needless to say, I've got no roll whatsoever. Ralph D. is right though; we kept up just fine with people in hardshells, and made better headway through the 2-3 foot whitecaps on the windy Tikchik lakes. It also holds an unbelievable amount of stuff. Anyway, I'm hoping to make at least a couple 1-2 week trips this summer; in Prince William Sound, and a float down some river. (Foldables shine here, as you can fly them in to the bush in any little ole plane.) Now to strap the skis back on. (And no, 20 below is NOT too cold to get out.) *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
grindol_at_my-dejanews.com wrote: > We enjoy the list. For old farts you guys and gals are great! :) Thank you. As an 'old fart' (40) I think I can understand. But hey, I'm also into Ham Radio and there I am a youngster. :-)) I have been using canoes and kayaks off and on for about 30 years, but they have not generally been my primary boating. I have uncounted thousands of hours and miles on ships (USN and other), about 30,000 miles on small sailboats. I have boated both coasts of the US and Mexico and most of Chile and the Antarctica Peninsula. I have something between 500 and 1000 hours under water on SCUBA. I have no idea how much time snorkeling (free diving). I am a strong intermediate canoeist, and a high level beginner to low intermediate kayaker, mainly due to the limited time in these boats. I am an advanced waterman and general boater and comfortably handle sail and power boats from 8' to about 125'. If I have a different take on lots of subjects then understand that my first response when there is trouble is to look for deep water and lots of searoom. Ocean going vessels are rarely hurt by the sea, it is usually that hard stuff around the edges that causes problems. :-)) michael *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
<color><param>0100,0100,0100</param>Who We Are.... ......Anne Burton, started kayaking last May (after moving to Maine in February) and after wanting to get in a boat for years. Almost 44 years old, thrilled with my new sport, home, and state, and glad to hear that old farts, or rather, farts even older than myself, are out having adventures, too. There was a sunlit summer day up in Michigan, 37 years ago, drifting down the shallow Crystal River in a silver Grumman, water sparkling, a sandy riverbed you could touch, minnows tantalizingly close. No doubt I've forgotten the clouds, the dehydration, the insects, the fighting with my cousins, but the sunlight and water remain, whispering "Get a boat". So I've done it a bit backwards - I came to Maine, bought a boat (Lincoln Quoddy Lite, a local make, 12' 6", 30 lbs, glass, suited for calm coastal water), put it in the water, tried to make it go. <color><param>0000,0000,0000</param>Thought I'd spend time on lakes and ponds and gentle rivers..but t<color><param>0100,0100,0100</param>here weren't any calm inland waters *real* nearby. Down the street, however, there was an ocean, which I have come to love and respect. Then came my second boat (a case of pent-up demand I guess), a Necky Looksha IVS - my lovely low stealth boat. I had to get a different car, as I was too short to cartop kayaks on a minivan. Then a compass...a VHF radio......another paddle....a different PFD......etc etc etc I am now suffering from paddling withdrawal, and winter overload, and spend part of every weekend driving up the Maine coast, looking for future put-ins with parking. I don't yet have or want a drysuit, so haven't been out since the end of November. Am looking forward to learning the skills for kayak island camping, and hope to make some multi-day trips this year. I've had some instruction, including rescue / self-rescue, and mostly go out by myself in Casco Bay. Have done many practice wet exits and re-entries, and no rolls. I quite often wear a wetsuit, but not all the time. I don't go out in questionable weather and am hardly ever more than a mile from land, being blessed with many islands here. So far, only day trips. My longest trip to date was about 7 miles one way. I have mixed feelings about going out alone -- on the one hand, it's probably not the safest thing in the world to do (hence the radio), and on the other hand, that's the joy of it, out in creation exploring under my own power. Besides, if I had to wait for someone to go with, I'd never go. Thanks Dave for this thread! *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
A lurker decides to step out of the shadows long enough to say... I am Benno Jones. I'm 37, live in Seattle, WA and have been paddling for about a year and a half, although it's been sporadic. Work occasionally keeps me off the water for a month at a time. I have a Feathercraft K-Light. My motivation for buying a folder was originally because my apartment is not large enough to hold a full size hard body (not to mention a fairly sharp corner I would have to turn to get it in and out), but on my test paddle I just fell in love with the boat. I just do day-paddles, mostly on Lake Washington here, and I really didn't need a boat with cargo space big enough for trips, etc. When I finally feel confident in my skills I will start to venture out onto Puget Sound. Ok, back into the shadows.... :-) -- It's a well-known fact that although the public is fine when taken individually, when it forms itself into large groups, it tends to act as though it has one partially consumed Pez tablet for a brain. - Dave Barry *************************************************************************** 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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