[Paddlewise] Small world - and an introduction

> I love the internet because it makes the world smaller. 

It sure does. And this gives me a good excuse to introduce myself. 
I'm Johan "Julf" Helsingius, originally a swedish-speaking Finn, but
currently resident in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.  Having grown up by the
water (both lakes and the Baltic Sea), I have spent most of my youth in
small boats, both fishing boats and sailboats, and did a bit of competition
dinghy sailing long ago, but never got around to kayaks. Having moved
to the netherlands (a country consisting of mostly water), I decided to
embrace the water lifestyle. No, there is no whitewater kayaking in a country
where the difference in elevation between the highest and lowest point in
the country is something like 500 feet, but there are compensations - I 
really enjoy stepping out of the front door of my canal house in central
Amsterdam, lowering my Klepper down into the canal, and ducking the tour
boats. And the canals and waterways just seem endless, leading down to
Belgium, France, Germany and up to Denmark and the North Sea. And the North
Sea islands are jut wonderful. One thing I'm still learning to cope with
is tides - there were no tides in the Baltic. My recent trip to Alaska
gave me a different perspective, with tides up to 20 feet. 

Anyway, enough for an introduction - having been on the list for a week, and 
browsing the archives, I have to say that this list seems like a very
useful and interesting resource and community! Glad to be aboard!

Cheers,

	Julf


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