When I was single, I did virtually all my paddling solo, including multi-week exposed trips, and it's still my preferred way to kayak, for many of the reasons others have articulated. I'm married now, and I take seriously the idea that I should not cause my wife distress. She does worry when I do longer and more challenging trips (and there's no point in debating with her whether her fears are rational or not - emotions, by their very nature, are not rational, but they are still very real). I still do many shorter and/or less challenging trips alone, but as a concession to growing up (which I may do some day inspite of myself) and being a mature partner in a relationship, I paddle with one or more other people on more difficult trips, since this causes my wife less worry. I find the secret is choosing your paddling partner(s) very carefully. This year's big trip was paddling from Port Hardy around Cape Scott to San Josef Bay (for those not familiar with the Pacific Northwest, Cape Scott is often talked about in the same terms as Cape Horn. This is propably an exageration, but Cape Scott can certainly be wild, and is the site of many shipwrecks). While I conceived this trip and did much of the research, the woman I paddled with and I paddled as equals. (She's in a parallel situation to mine - her life partner, while an active outdoor type, is not keen on hard-core paddling trips). She also has solo toured extensively, and is a sea kayak guide of many years experience. I found the dynamic on this trip to be excellent; we enjoyed each other's company, yet could paddle in companionable silence for hours. Neither of us felt we had to baby-sit the other, yet we were each confident of the other's ability to assist us should we need it (at least in any circumstances where one kayaker could assist another!) To ensure I was not taking her thoughts and opinions for granted, I was careful ask open-ended questions as we discussed each upcoming day's paddling in the light of the radio forecast, the barometer readings, the seascape features, and the tidal exchanges; interestingly, we had each always reached the same conclusions independently, so there was never a tug-of-war over staying or going, or what route to take. For me it was in many ways the best of both worlds; the increased safety and the pleasure of companionship (especially welcome on the beach waiting out multi-day storms), and yet plenty of personal space, and without any burden of constantly looking after someone else. I'd call it paddling "solo together". Philip Torrens N49°16' W123°06' *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
Philip Torrens wrote: > This year's big trip was paddling from Port Hardy around Cape Scott to San > Josef Bay (for those not familiar with the Pacific Northwest, Cape Scott is > often talked about in the same terms as Cape Horn. This is propably an > exageration, but Cape Scott can certainly be wild, and is the site of many > shipwrecks). While I conceived this trip and did much of the research, the > woman I paddled with and I paddled as equals. (She's in a parallel situation > to mine - her life partner, while an active outdoor type, is not keen on > hard-core paddling trips). She also has solo toured extensively, and is a > sea kayak guide of many years experience. I found the dynamic on this trip > to be excellent; we enjoyed each other's company, yet could paddle in > companionable silence for hours. Neither of us felt we had to baby-sit the > other, yet we were each confident of the other's ability to assist us should > we need it (at least in any circumstances where one kayaker could assist > another!) To ensure I was not taking her thoughts and opinions for granted, > I was careful ask open-ended questions as we discussed each upcoming day's > paddling in the light of the radio forecast, the barometer readings, the > seascape features, and the tidal exchanges; interestingly, we had each > always reached the same conclusions independently, so there was never a > tug-of-war over staying or going, or what route to take. > For me it was in many ways the best of both worlds; the increased safety and > the pleasure of companionship (especially welcome on the beach waiting out > multi-day storms), and yet plenty of personal space, and without any burden > of constantly looking after someone else. I'd call it paddling "solo > together". Very nice, Philip. And well stated. When I was a climber, we used to joke it was easier to find a compatible girl friend than it was a compatible climbing partner! Your post really reminded me of that. -- Dave Kruger Astoria, OR *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
Dave Kruger wrote: >When I was a climber, we used to joke it was easier to find a >compatible girl friend than it was a compatible climbing partner! Your >post really reminded me of that. There's a lot of truth to that! I've been lucky, though, as far as climbing partners go--my younger brother and I started climbing together, and we have roughly equal skills. Not to mention the fact that if only one of us were to come home from the mountain, Mother would kill the surviving son, and we wouldn't want that to happen! I'm encouraging him to develop really good safety/navigation/boat handling skills so that we can do exposed paddling trips together. Shawn *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.4.0 : Thu Aug 21 2025 - 16:33:02 PDT