Philip Torrens wrote: > > A)Name: William J. Russell (Russell) > > B) Contact: wjrussell_at_ameritech.net this address might change in the near future > > C) Boats: Have two skin Baidarkas (NOT replicas as I've modified them somewhat from the original plan I had) I used to have a double Klepper, but, when my wife stopped paddling, I found it to be to much boat for me (I'm 5'8" and 150 lbs) so I sold it....sometimes I wish I still had it. > D) Radio call sign: > > E) Special Interests: Special interest USED to be computers, quite naturally, since I was in the business of repairing them for quite some time...since I've retired (this past February) I've pretty much lost interest other than using one to communicate on the net..my REAL interest now is kayaking and skin boats..hope to build a Hooper Bay this winter..of course I said this last winter as well and never did quite get roundtoit...to much time traveling around the country. > F) Specialist Knowledge: No special knowledge (other than LAAAGE computers and my expertise in that area is quickly becoming obsolete)...no higher education to help me understand all the engineers lingo, no special talents and no special writing skills to match the prose and poetry I sometimes read here...my main source of education is merely from living....which is good enough for me for now. > > G) Strong opinions: I have pretty strong feelings regarding such things as alcohol or drug abuse, abortion politics, religion....NONE of which will I inflict upon the PW readers...most other areas I'm pretty much open for discussion. > > H) Most interesting trip: The Nam, 1968...but that's another life...I guess my most interesting trip (tiring and scary) was about two or three years ago in late October or early November...I'd been kayaking for about two years at that time and still had the double Klepper....I was camping on the southern shore (county camp ground) of Lake Superior waiting for the weather to clear enough for me to circumnavigate Grand island...I'd initially planned on a three day trip...first day to the northern tip of the island, second day coming around the East side of the island to about half way down and then back to my base camp area on the third day....I'd been waiting for three days and every morning when I got up there would be fog enough to not be able to see Grand island or either of the other two islands on the west side of Grand...Williams island which was about 3 miles from my camp and Wood island which was about 1.75 miles further...the day before my "adventure" I'd paddled out to and around Williams island...I kept an eye on the weather and it wasn't so bad...the fog would periodically clear then roll back in and the waves picked up to two or three feet ( could just see over the tops when I was in the trough)...I didn't worry cause I was in my trusty double Klepper, after all people cross the Atlantic in these boats)..I found the ONLY place to land on this island was at the dock of someone that owned the only house on the island(for all I know the house owner also, owned the island)..anyway I didn't stop, just paddled on back to my campsite...the following day, weather conditions were the same as the previous day, so I decided to head out to Wood island...I figured about a 9 or 10 mile round trip...started out around 10:00 AM, just after the fog cleard (for the first time) today would be like the previous 3 or 4 days fog then clear, fog, then clear...by the time I reached Williams island the wind was right in my face...I have no idea how hard it was blowing, just that my job had gotton quite a bit harder...waves were coming right at me at about three feet again...I CONSIDERED going back but thought, Nah, I'm in my trusty Klepper, after all people cross the Atlantic in these boats...so onward and upward....By the time I reached Wood island I was starting to worry a little...my headway was VERY slow, I was REALLY working hard and the waves were now higher than my head...as I started around the North end of the island I saw a LOT of water activity in one area and thought I'd better stand off from shore further than I'd intended....it's a good thing I made that decision, cause I could see when I'd paddled on further that if I'd gone where I'd intended I'd have sunk my boat on rocks....just about the same time I saw the rocky area the wind really hit me hard..it appeared to be coming from the NorthEast now and naturally I was coming around the East side of the island...the wind was so strong I was REALLY worried about getting dashed on the rocks of this island...up till now I hadn't seen ANYPLACE I could land on this dratted place...waves were now so high I had to look UP to see the tops....I'm no expert at judging the height of waves but I KNOW they were at least 25 feet high...welll, at least 6 or 7 feet high...I was getting pretty tired by now fighting the wind and waves...now...what's this wierd feeling in the pit of my stomach...I haven't felt like this since I was on that troop ship in 1951..sea sick for crying out loud....onward and upward....FINALLY...I've gotten around Wood Island...decided to head for the West side of Williams Island...maybe I'll some protection from the wind and waves over there....gasp, gasp, gasp..I've made it to the home owners dock...I was so tired and sick that I could barely get out of the boat....I just ROLLED out of the boat onto the dock and layed there...I couldn't move....what's this....there's no wind now and the waves are WAAAY down, sun's coming out...boy, did it feel good to just lay there.....after about 30 minutes I'd gotten my wind back and didn't feel funny in the stomach anymore....finally I made myself get up and paddle that last three miles to my campsite....figured I'd better get that last leg out of the way before the waves and wind picked up again....this part wasn't to bad...waves were only two feet or so....I couldn't believe it....including my 30 minute stop to rest, I'd been on the water for almost 8 hours of CONSTANT paddling...you can bet your bottom dollar I slept well that night...I'm glad I experienced that trip but I was VERY happy to have it over.......needless to say I did NOT get to circumnavigate Grand island........I WAS ALONE ON THIS TRIP....which is the way I usually paddle > Personal: I'm 65 this past February (DID I say that)...20 years in the military...3 years in England, 3 years in Japan and 1 year in that great tourist area, Viet Nam....from Michigan originally and I've lived here, except for one two or three year period, since 1971 when I retired from the military....Worked as a Field Engineer for Data General (fancy title for a computer repair guy) for 20 years...retired from that company in February....I DO like retirement William J. Russell Grand Rapids, Michigan > > > *************************************************************************** > PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not > to be reproduced outside PaddleWise without author's permission > Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net > Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net > Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ > *************************************************************************** *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************Received on Fri Oct 29 1999 - 22:38:31 PDT
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.4.0 : Thu Aug 21 2025 - 16:30:16 PDT