I have read (and been told) not to use my rudder until I had learned how to paddle correctly. My reaction was to put the rudder up for a while, get frustrated, and then put it back down. That was last summer. Since then I have had a couple of classes (GRO's 1 & 2 day classes), and lots of practice. When we went out this last weekend I didn't use my rudder at all. This was at Perry Lake in Kansas in fairly high winds and a bit of wave. There was even a small craft warning for Perry because of the wind, but the park ranger we talked to about where to put in (the usual dock was flooded) didn't bother to mention it. I just needed to use my rudder to help me learn how to paddle in a straight line, and not get frustrated. Just like I learned how to drive an automatic, but now always drive a stick. Learn the basics, then work on technique. I'm not commenting on teaching styles, or the best way for everyone to learn, just what worked for me. Too bad what I've read and what everyone else seems to think goes against what might work for others... Gee.... the skeg on the British boats might be just the thing for me.... This means I NEED that fiberglass Romany 16! :) Julie :) *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
Julie Grindol wrote: > I have read (and been told) not to use my rudder until I had learned how to > paddle correctly. My reaction was to put the rudder up for a while, get > frustrated, and then put it back down. That was last summer. Since then I > have had a couple of classes (GRO's 1 & 2 day classes), and lots of > practice.[...] The same thing happened with my SO, Amie. Last year she used the rudder most of the time. Well, we just got back from a short trip where she only used the rudder for an hour or so in the worst conditions. I kept telling her it was just a matter of time until she got used to the kayak and the paddling technique. Now she believes me. I think it's a good idea to use the rudder to avoid frustration and/or fatigue, but keep working on not using it. Over time you'll make the transition. Mike *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
It would sure help me understand if posters talking about paddling would tell me what boat they paddled. In this case I suspect, but don't know, that the kayak didn't track well even on calm water without a rudder. I'm tempted to guess at the possible models here but as a potential competitor I will hold my tongue. -----Original Message----- From: Julie Grindol <grindolj_at_lhl.lib.mo.us> To: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net <paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net> Date: Tuesday, July 06, 1999 9:56 AM Subject: [Paddlewise] comments on rudders >I have read (and been told) not to use my rudder until I had learned how to >paddle correctly. My reaction was to put the rudder up for a while, get >frustrated, and then put it back down. That was last summer. Since then I >have had a couple of classes (GRO's 1 & 2 day classes), and lots of >practice. When we went out this last weekend I didn't use my rudder at >all. This was at Perry Lake in Kansas in fairly high winds and a bit of >wave. There was even a small craft warning for Perry because of the wind, >but the park ranger we talked to about where to put in (the usual dock was >flooded) didn't bother to mention it. > >I just needed to use my rudder to help me learn how to paddle in a straight >line, and not get frustrated. Just like I learned how to drive an >automatic, but now always drive a stick. Learn the basics, then work on >technique. I'm not commenting on teaching styles, or the best way for >everyone to learn, just what worked for me. Too bad what I've read and >what everyone else seems to think goes against what might work for others... > >Gee.... the skeg on the British boats might be just the thing for me.... >This means I NEED that fiberglass Romany 16! :) > >Julie :) > > *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
Sorry about leaving that out. I own a Preception Shadow (of the HMS Rubbermaid type), and at my class I was paddling a Roamy 16 (sp? fiberglass British boat). Both are smaller boats that are harder to track, but I won't blame the boats. I've refined my stroke, and like I said, last Saturday in high winds I didn't even think of using my rudder. :) Thanks! Julie :) At 09:18 PM 7/6/99 -0700, Matt Broze wrote: >It would sure help me understand if posters talking about paddling would >tell me what boat they paddled. In this case I suspect, but don't know, that >the kayak didn't track well even on calm water without a rudder. I'm tempted >to guess at the possible models here but as a potential competitor I will >hold my tongue. > >-----Original Message----- >From: Julie Grindol <grindolj_at_lhl.lib.mo.us> >To: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net <paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net> >Date: Tuesday, July 06, 1999 9:56 AM >Subject: [Paddlewise] comments on rudders > > >>I have read (and been told) not to use my rudder until I had learned how to >>paddle correctly. My reaction was to put the rudder up for a while, get >>frustrated, and then put it back down. That was last summer. Since then I >>have had a couple of classes (GRO's 1 & 2 day classes), and lots of >>practice. When we went out this last weekend I didn't use my rudder at >>all. This was at Perry Lake in Kansas in fairly high winds and a bit of >>wave. There was even a small craft warning for Perry because of the wind, >>but the park ranger we talked to about where to put in (the usual dock was >>flooded) didn't bother to mention it. >> >>I just needed to use my rudder to help me learn how to paddle in a straight >>line, and not get frustrated. Just like I learned how to drive an >>automatic, but now always drive a stick. Learn the basics, then work on >>technique. I'm not commenting on teaching styles, or the best way for >>everyone to learn, just what worked for me. Too bad what I've read and >>what everyone else seems to think goes against what might work for >others... >> >>Gee.... the skeg on the British boats might be just the thing for me.... >>This means I NEED that fiberglass Romany 16! :) >> >>Julie :) >> >> > > >*************************************************************************** >PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List >Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net >Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net >Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ >*************************************************************************** > *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
-----Original Message----- From: Michael Daly <michaeldaly_at_home.com> Cc: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net <paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net> Date: Tuesday, July 06, 1999 5:35 PM Subject: Re: [Paddlewise] comments on rudders >Julie Grindol wrote: > >> I have read (and been told) not to use my rudder until I had learned how to >> paddle correctly. My reaction was to put the rudder up for a while, get >> frustrated, and then put it back down. That was last summer. Since then I >> have had a couple of classes (GRO's 1 & 2 day classes), and lots of >> practice.[...] > >The same thing happened with my SO, Amie. Last year she used the >rudder most of the time. Well, we just got back from a short trip where >she only used the rudder for an hour or so in the worst conditions. > >I kept telling her it was just a matter of time until she got used to the >kayak and the paddling technique. Now she believes me. > >I think it's a good idea to use the rudder to avoid frustration and/or >fatigue, but keep working on not using it. Over time you'll make the >transition. > >Mike > The following was published in ANORAK a while back, I couldn't agree more. Matt Broze Preventing the Scourge of Rudderitis Rudderitis is a crippling affliction endemic and widespread among the aquatic humanoids on the planet earth known as "kayakers". Rudderitis appears to be caused by an (as yet unknown) infectious agent whose first symptom is a hard angular mutation that flops around on the back end of a kayaker's shell or "kayak". Kayakers are vulnerable and nearly helpless in the water without a shell, but can glide around quite gracefully when they have obtained one. (A kayaker does not grow its shell like most organisms but, rather like a hermit crab, inhabits an existing shell and occasionally moves into a new shell or an abandoned shell from another kayaker.) As ugly as it is, the hard angular growth on the kayak appears to be only the most obvious symptom of the underlying disease process. Once the mutation appears the kayak's innards or "foot-stools" also become loose and weak. Strangely, the end result is the inevitable crippling of that particular shell's motive organism. The paddler's upper limbs become useless for anything but simple repetitive paddling motions leaving only their lower limbs to control direction. The motive organism kicks at the loose stools and thereby flops the grotesque mutation side to side. Although the victims lower limbs are inadequate tools for the job (lacking the fine motor coordination of the upper limbs) most victims do the best they can. The result is usually a staggering zigzag path through the water. Apparently directional control is so crude among the infected that the organism can never quite get it right. No kayak shell has ever been observed to contract rudderitis directly from another kayak shell. At first it was thought that salt water was a necessary condition for the progress of the disease because it was found almost exclusively in sea going kayaks but not in their fresh water relatives (canoes and river kayaks). Later it was found that inland and Great Lakes sea kayaks never exposed to salt water also came down with the condition. It is now believed that susceptibility to the disease is genetic because it mainly follows kayak family lines. The gene for susceptibility may reside on the same chromosome and near the gene for a preference for longer shell length. Few short kayaks and almost no whitewater river kayaks ever contract the disease. An intermediate host "paddler" seems necessary to transmit the infection. At first it was believed that transmission only occurred when paddlers emerged from their kayak shells on land during what may be a mating ritual. During this ritual each paddler grasps opposite ends of one or both of their shells and carries it or them around. The kayaker emerging from a shell that is diseased invariably retreats from the mutated rear end and hurries to be the first to pick up the other end. The other paddler if not yet infected by the disease does not seem to recognize the danger and searches around the diseased end of the kayak shell looking for a place to grasp hold without tangling with the growth or its tendrils. In the struggle to grasp and carry the mutated end the disease free but susceptible paddler could be infected through the open wound often inflicted by the sharp edges of the growth. This growth is known as the "rudder blade", probably because of the frequency of the cuts suffered by paddlers carrying the "blade" end). If this is the route of infection, the spread of this disease could be prevented if either of the mating pair changed their behavior. The infected paddler could always lift the back of their shell first no matter how abhorrent this may be to them. The disease free paddler could be educated to refuse to "carry" with a diseased kayak shell unless from the front or when using protection from the blade. Most victims however, seemed to want other paddlers to become victims like themselves and did not practice "safe carrying". The Center for Kayak Control warned that exposed rudder blades might be dangerous and should be sheathed in rubber during the carrying ritual to prevent cuts and abrasions. The afflicted "front grabbers" have totally ignored this simple prophylactic measure. Before a massive educational campaign could get underway promoting "safe carrying" methods to the not yet infected, new evidence suggesting that no physical contact was necessary to transmit the infection became available. Many who had never carried the blade end of a diseased kayak, yet still contracted the disease, were found to have had one thing in common. They had all been in contact with clones of the word secretions of John Dowd. Mr. Dowd, an early sufferer of rudderitis is suspected to have been responsible for infecting many thousands of victims who came into casual contact with his word secretions. [Strangely John's word secretions are also widely blamed for the return and epidemic spread of zero degree bladeanoma (commonly known as flat-feather disease). This disease was once limited to Arctic regions and at one time was almost completely wiped out. Now Flat Feather disease has returned with a vengeance to plague modern paddlers especially those whose quest is searching for the source of the wind. It is most commonly found among the "weak wristed"] New evidence suggests the two most likely routes of rudderitis infection are from the mouth of one paddler to the ear of susceptible paddlers who have not been vaccinated, or from the fingers (through the medium of a keyboard and infected paper) of an already infected individual to the eyes of the next victim. The initial locus of infection appears to be in the brain of the victim. Next the victim's kayak sprouts the growth and develops loose (foot) stools in its bowels. Then, through some mechanism that is not well understood, the growth on the kayak cripples the paddler's body, especially the arms. The most widely held theory as to why the paddler becomes crippled by the growth is that it happens through a mechanism akin to the "training wheel effect" commonly seen in the offspring of "two wheel" terrestrial humanoids. When they are attempting to learn to "two wheel" overprotective parents complicate practice with extra gadgets that prevent the offspring from doing the main thing they need to practice, that is tilting the "two wheeler" to turn and for balance. The training wheels effect's other corollary, Initial Overstablemia, commonly afflicts nervous and anxious (hydrophobic) paddlers causing them to use grossly enlarged shells that require great effort to move about. The only effective treatments for rudderitis have been the total amputation of the mutant growth or the more costly replacement of the kayaker's whole shell by one not infected (preferably one with little genetic susceptibility to the disease to minimize the chance of re infection). Amputation is less often a total cure because shells having a high susceptibility to the disease often seem to become even more disobedient and hard to control after the operation. Amputation or even replacement must often be followed by a period of rehabilitative therapy for the paddler (to reverse old habits, such as twitching and tensing of the legs when a change in direction is contemplated). Halfway measures like keeping the growth from getting wet (possible only in calm conditions) have been shown to have only a placebo effect, although some victims believe themselves cured. Formerly healthy paddlers who thought they could just use the malignant growth sparingly ("only when I really need it") have often fallen victim to "cable dependency disorders" or even full blown rudder addictions. It has however been observed that casual users never become as seriously crippled or dependent as those never vaccinated. The more times the victim has been vaccinated before developing rudderitis the milder the crippling if the mutant growth occurs and the less rehabilitation the victim needs after amputation. It is rare for a well-vaccinated paddler to ever become infected. Vaccination involves dipping a paddle in the water repeatedly before becoming infected. Death rarely occurs but some victims have been heard to audibly snap and then travel around and around in circles. This is known as "bilateral cable disorder". It is common during the remaining lifetime of most mutated kayak shells. It is believed rudderitis infection originally came from much larger craft containing many organisms. The infecting organism's mutations may have evolved symbiotically as the craft themselves evolved into larger and more unwieldy monsters. Now that the risk factors are better understood ,there is another way paddlers can protect themselves from the menace of rudderitis, when searching for a new kayak shell if a seductive kayak shell purveyor tells them how easy paddling will be using a preinfected shell, they should JUST SAY NO! This has been a public service message from the Center for Kayak Control, Dr. A. Marsman, chairman *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
>From: "Matt Broze" <mkayaks_at_oz.net> > > >The following was published in ANORAK a while back, I couldn't agree more. >Matt Broze > >Preventing the Scourge of Rudderitis > >Rudderitis is a crippling affliction endemic and widespread among the >aquatic humanoids on the planet earth known as "kayakers". HUGE SNIP >them how easy paddling will be using a preinfected shell, they should JUST >SAY NO! > >This has been a public service message from the Center for Kayak Control, >Dr. A. Marsman, chairman Thanks to the good Doctor for his timely warning to us all. A small further note if I may: It appears that "rudderitis" can be passed on not only through the family lines of the kayakers, but also of the "shells". Examination of successive generations of shells reveals that once they have been infected with "rudders" there is a tendency for the natural sharp stern line to become blunted and flat, with bizarre right angles resembling those on the larger craft in which "rudders" are believed to have originated. Often this "squaring of the stern" becomes so extreme that the shell itself can not longer track without one, creating a grotesque, self-perpetuating "obligate symbiosis" wherein the shell must have a rudder, even though this parasite saps its speed and handling. Philip Torrens N49°16' W123°08' *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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