On Sat, 29 May 1999, Hal Christiansen wrote: > I will be taking a beginners WW course in two weeks. The facility offers > training using kayaks. I have paddled OC! almost exclusively for several > years. So my question to the list is this : > > What are the reasons why you favor either kayaks or canoes, for white water > rivers, playboating, rodeo, etc. ??? I can't resist this either. The most succinct way of putting this is.... "Half the paddle, half the fun." (From the kayaker's perspective) OR "Half the paddle, twice the man" (From the canoeist's perspective) "Half the stick, twice the chick" (for the ladies) And there are others.... but the above succintly sums it up. So take your pick of which saying floats your ..er.. boat. If you like pure unadulterated fun, do kayaking. If you like to make things hard on yourself and eventually earn the admiration of all your lesser kayaking peers, choose canoeing. I only kayak, although canoeing looks like a viable alternative to whitewater kayaking should I ever become bored with simply kayaking (highly unlikely considering the new heights that kayaking has achieved in recent years compared to my meager skills). Canoeing really is much harder to master. However a skilled canoeist can do *anything* that a kayaker can do. This is includes surfing, spinning, cartwheeling, blunting, boofing, you name it. It just takes a LOT more skill. There is some awesome footage of Paul Danks tearing the heck out of a wave and hole on the Massive '98 demo tape. He was paddling a decked c-1 Groove. Maybe I'll take it up once I have achieved my goal of paddling more days per year than not. Oh yeah, one more thing. Kayaking may be perhaps a little bit safer since it is easier and quicker to roll back up, and the kayaker is less exposed while rolling. One of our local rapids has an unofficial new name of "spinal tap" after a fateful c-1 run. Fortunately it left no lasting scars. Good luck in your class! Kevin *************************************************************************** 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 May 30 1999 - 23:34:04 PDT
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