I consider myself fortunate that both my wife and son have paddled with me. When I started paddling it was in a double with my wife and we did quite a bit of it for the first few years. She has tapered down quite a bit only paddling a few times a year with me. But it is still fun to be out with her on the water, though we now do so in singles. The last time was a night paddle in the harbor late this summer as the sun went down and we poked around the edges of piers and moored boats mainly staying clear of the channel. As for my son, he lives away from us as a career soldier in the US Army. But we have paddled at times when he's been home and the water warm (I don't have anything tall enough for him in the way of cold water clothing). I really got a kick when he came back from Desert Storm that the first thing he wanted to do was to go for a paddle. We did so, fittingly enough, out of West Point and paddled up the Hudson. We landed on Bannermann Island, which is the site of an old mansion and arms depot run by an eccentric arms dealer at the turn of the century and since largely destroyed by an explosion and weather exposure. One is not supposed to land there because the buildings arefalling down and you could get hurt; but we landed anyway. As luck would have it, a NY State Parks patrolman showed up while we were on the island's small beach. He was quite nervous and had a hand on the butt of his holstered sidearm demanding we leave. I thought to myself that wouldn't it be ironic that my son had more of a chance of being shot by a trigger-happy cop back home than he would have in combat at the hands of the Iraqis. But it was a good trip. In reading the biographies given recently as part of the Who's Who, I had to smile at what was written by Bob and Joan Volin, both of whom I know from local paddling circles. They wrote that their interest is kayaking and each other. That was nice to see. Also, Jack Martin, who I knew only from the 'Net and mutual friends. His building a CLC kayak with his son sticks in my mind as a pleasing image and thought. These examples go to show that kayaking can have a bonding effect and provide cherished moments. ralph diaz -- ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Ralph Diaz . . . Folding Kayaker newsletter PO Box 0754, New York, NY 10024 Tel: 212-724-5069; E-mail: rdiaz_at_ix.netcom.com "Where's your sea kayak?"----"It's in the bag." ----------------------------------------------------------------------- *************************************************************************** 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 Thu Nov 04 1999 - 15:56:22 PST
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