Whew! This thread has gotten a lot of attention and I have enjoyed the everyone's input. This thread has shown that many, many people have put a lot of time and effort into thinking and acting on (each in their own way), which is important. But... Maybe the dogmatic way in which we all hold our own beliefs myself included) is one of the reasons I tend to paddle solo. Yesterday when I left to paddle at 2 pm it was 98 F, the water was in the 80's and the lake was crowded. I was going on a paddle to help a firend celebrate his 40th birthday so we were going to have fun. We each wore shorts, no shirts and hats. Neither of us wore PFDs, dry suits, wet suits, or any of the hot button items discussed in this thread. Now, we might be chastised for not wearing sunscreen, no shirts, no PFD, not having our VHS, or for even paddling in such a jet-ski infested environment. Each of these items has its inherent risks. Charlie even got sprayed by a jet-ski (%$#%&, ^&* *^%%$&^, %%$#_at__at_^&*!). Anyway, These were the risks, we weighed the rewards each way and, without dogmatic fanfare, we had a pleasureable albeit hot paddle. The key to handling dynamic environments (at work, at home, at sea) is flexibility. Not everyone has a roll, not everyone has a drysuit, not everyone has the experience to handle all water, not everyone wants to be a kamikaze ranger. These are not reasons for not paddling. Paddling is a recreation. We can be as serious about it as we individually want. If we aren't lucky enough, some of the risks we will take will be driving to and from the put in. EVERYTHING we do involves some risk. Awareness of the risks is important. From there, it is each individual's choice. So please, can't we all just get along and go out for a paddle? *************************************************************************** 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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