Re: [Paddlewise] Re; Who's who

From: Mark Zen <canoeist_at_netbox.com>
Date: Wed, 27 Oct 1999 21:04:06 +0000
oh list mom ;-) did i miss yours? ;-p

a) Name
mark zen

b) Contact details & / or location
canoeist_at_netbox.com   ft lupton, colorado, usa 80621-0474

c) Kayaks owned or paddled (boat names also if you like)

kayaks,
playboat now:         prijon yukon expedition, plastic
cruising boat:        seda viking, glass lay up
playboat prev:        aquaterra spectrum, plastic
cruising boat prev:   see canoe, solo

canoes,
tank/loaner:           17' osagian aluminum
pleasure freighter:    17'9" we-no-nah cascade, glass
playboat, sold:        14'4" dagger caper, 3 seats, plastic
pleasure solo touring: 15'8" we-no-nah rendezvous, custom glass/kevlar


d) Boat name and serial number if maritime radio operator

na

e) Special interests
human powered transportation, computers, sci-fi, guns, photography

f) Specialist knowledge
ACA certified canoe instructor, outward bound ski mountaineering course, 
avalanche safety & rescue, solo bicycle ride around US & canada,
computer geek

g) Strong opinions (I doubt we'll have any of those :~)
you probably don't want to know ;-)

h) Most interesting kayak trip
paddling a local 10 mile piece of river. had paddled it enough times
during the summer to be comfortable on it solo. dropped car off at
the take out, and my wife shuttled me to the put-in. i had two hours
before sunset, usually took 90 minutes, so i had time, but a cold
front moved through after 15 minutes on the river. the warmer water
created fog, so i paddled most of the time only seeing 20-100 ft
in front of me. the sky turned bright red with the approaching sunset
and then i realized it was completely overcast, the fog had shrouded
the clouds moving in. then the sky got redder & pinker, and these
HUGE snowflakes started falling. the sound of them hitting the water 
was one i will never forget, kind of a hiss... as the front had
passed, the temp warmed up, so i paddled through this surreal fog
and snow for almost an hour and a half. sometimes the visibility would
be the end of my boat, and i'd bump something submerged, and just
about need a relief zipper for my spray skirt!! more like a bomb-bay
door underneath would have worked [except of course that it would
snag, and then i'd be a goner]. i finished just as the sunset, the
kind that inspired john denver to change his name and sing about it
"raining fire in the sky" red & pink snow storm, almost wind free.
-----
including my "bio" from last time below for the "personal info"
---

i'm another in the middle, at a ripe age of 37 ;-) i've lived
on the east coast, and traveled the ocean on boats and ships up to an 
aircraft carrier [an when you're in hurricane hugo in the north atlantic,
you still bob like a cork]. now i've lived most of my life in colorado,
so i paddle lots of rivers, and a few large lakes, and some small ones.

i'm an ACA certified canoe instructor, and that's really my true love,
but my over-all specialty is "human powered travel" having ridden a bicycle
around the eastern us & canada, also xc skiing, snow shoeing, besides
backpacking here in the rockies. i just started "sea kayaking" a few
years ago, having purchased a plastic aquaterra spectrum from my dad. 
a year ago i bought a prijon yukon expedition, to play with in rough
water. we also bought another sea kayak then for one of our daughters...
we have four, one in college, two at home with my wife and i, and the 
fourth lives 30 miles away, with her mom. so two out of the four paddle,
and now have their own boats [i gave the spectrum to jessica last year]

10 years ago i was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis, and now only paddle
the canoe occasionally, but the kayaks go out 70-80 times a year a year for
exercise!! i average 300+ miles a year, anything from lakes to class III 
rivers. my cars average 30,000+ miles a year just from paddling trips!! 
did you really read all of this?! i'm sure sandy did <g> i paddle mostly 
in the plastic boats, since i can "drop" them when i'm on my own, but i'd 
die if i dropped my kevlar canoe ;-)

water sports are some of the last i'll enjoy, so i do, and i support a few clubs
web sites for fun too!! 

and so it goes ;-) thanks peter!!

mark

--
#------canoeist[at]netbox[dot]com--------------------------------------
mark zen                      o,    o__              o_/|   o_.
po box 474                   </     [\/              [\_|   [\_\
ft. lupton, co 80621-0474 (`-/-------/----')      (`----|-------\-')
#~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_at_~~~~~~~_at_~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_at_~~~~~~~~_at_~~~~~
http://www.jacknjillz.com/paddler  [index of Paddling websites I manage]
Rocky Mtn Sea Kayak Club, Colorado River Flows, Poudre Paddlers
The Colorado Paddlers' Resource, Rocky Mtn Canoe Club Trip Page 
--
Computers are useless. They can only give you answers.
--Pablo Picasso

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Received on Wed Oct 27 1999 - 20:01:27 PDT

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