[Paddlewise] new paddlers thoughts

I received this e-mail today from a paddler around here, 
some time when you hit your head against the wall all 
you get is a headache

Dana
____________________________________________________
At 11:13 PM 10/5/99 -0400, you wrote:
>Things I have learned in six months of kayaking.
>
>(1) Any stroke that moves the kayak in the right direction is a good stroke.
>The technique nazis can go do things to themselves in the privacy of their
>own homes.
>
>(2) A rudder is a good thing.  You can use your feet to steer, they aren't
>doing anything anyway, and you conserve energy for propulsion strokes.  You
>can center it, stretch your legs and use it as an adjustable skeg on long
>straight passages.  You can also straddle your boat and slice apples on it
>during lunch stops when your have forgotten a knife.  The purists can go
>join the technique nazis.  (I love to give these guys fits by calling my
>kayak my Eskimo Boat).
>
>(3) If all of your paddling is in waterways that are narrow enough to swim
>your boat to a bank,  bracing and rolling are wasted skills.  Besides if you
>capsize in flat water you deserve to get wet.  Rescue freaks, go join
>purists, and the nazis.
>
>(4)  If you paddle in gator country, stay away from the banks.  He may think
>you are challenging him to a real estate dispute.  You will lose.  And, if
>you just startle him, it gives him enough water to go under your boat, not
>over it.
>
>(5)  If you are the type who constantly punches a mental time clock, find
>another pastime.
>
>(6) Getting lost in the salt marshes ain't all bad.  There are lots of neat
>critters back there you wouldn't have seen in the main channel.
>
>(7)  PFDs and spray skirts may seem a pain in the rear, but they give you
>extra pockets to put gorp and other stuff you want to keep handy.  Safety
>nuts, you won one.
>
>(8) The person who invented the deck dry bag should be nominated for
>sainthood.
>(9) I am going to have to paddle some more to come with #9.
>
>

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