[Paddlewise] Change of Topic(s) Was Re: Have money, will buy!

Doug Lloyd wrote:

> Because I said:
> 
> >> if she
> >> looses 20 lbs, she be back in courting mode! Now that's practical.
> 
> My wife is away for the weekend, so if y'all will stop sending e-mails to
> remind me of my faux paux, she'll never know I said that. And I mean't 15
> lbs, not 20, okay?
> 
> Hopefully if these e-mails continue, Jackie will declare it a "dead horse"
> before I'm a dead duck!  <G>
> 
> At this point, I'll gladly talk about _anything_ else other than the above
> topic and resultant chit-chat.

Amen, this is starting to sound like a Chat Room, which is what happens
to paddlers when the waters get hard white in North America and
Europe...they decline into chat and dreamed up subjects to ward off
cabin fever.

Which brings us up to Doug's suggested topics:


> Lets talk about people on this list with
> manic aspirations trying to find the "perfect kayak",

I think it is unfair to use labels like "manic" about other people's
desires.  That aside, there is likely no such thing as the perfect
kayak.  People should look around a little bit and then buy something. 
When you have that something for awhile then you can continue the search
with a better set of reference points of what may be more or less
perfectly suitable to you.

Also one should be careful in listening to recommendations unless the
source has lots of experiences with lots of boats of the type. 
Otherwise you are getting one person's personal limited view.  Also you
need to know what type paddler he or she is, what kind of paddling they
like to do, etc. and see if it matches up realistically with what you do
or are going to do.  To borrow from what I hear from my scientist
friends, solutions are all in asking the right questions.


>  or how about why
> those who paddle folders and claim they are so wonderful are always so
> defensive.

Hmmm, now I have to contend with the sarcasm of the way "wonderful" is
used and the negative connotation of the word "defensive."  But you do
ask why and you deserve an answer.

Why?  The boats are better than a lot of paddlers, experienced as well
as newcomers, give them credit for.  Any attempt at pointing such things
out, I guess can look defensive.  I am probably the most guilty here but
if you have had to put up with the litany of stuff I have heard and
still hear, you might appreciate why.  For example, I constantly hear
the rap that you shouldn't buy a folding kayak because you have to
assemble it all the time.  People who say that don't realize that you
can leave them assembled for long stretches of time if you have a place
to store one that way and then you can cartop them like everybody else. 
"What! You can cartop them?"  Yes, you can.  As I say this I am looking
at a 1950 photo of an assembled folding kayak being car topped on an old
jalopy of the period. That is 20 years before fiberglass hardshell
kayaks began to be produced in any numbers and 10 years before any one
was making even small workshop-built ones.  Oh, yeah, and this was long
before Thule and Yakima racks were first made.

It is perfectly okay not to like or want a folding kayak, but do so for
reasons that reflect reality and not misconception.

> Sponsons, yeah, that's a good
> topic, everyone should equip their boat with them...

Attachable sponsons have their uses as I think a number of individuals
on this list will attest to.  We would not be joking around about them
if it were not for the way a certain individual went overboard in
promoting them.  And that is most unfortunate as they are a reasonably
valid backup system for emergencies.  They are certainly a worthwhile
thing for a group trip to have along if someone is injured or sick.  Oh
if things really go wrong.  I remember reading awhile back in SK an
account I think by you when things went nuts and you got into one of
those little emergency rafts (I forget the name).  Please forgive me for
being fuzzy on the details but I believe you failed to roll and backups
weren't working, etc.  Perhaps a set of external sponsons would have
helped you in that situation.  Or that couple in Maine mentioned in a
more recent SK article who went over in open water near where a river
runs out.  Sponsons probably would have made what turned out to be a
life-threatening ordeal into just a mildly unpleasant experience.

I can't remember whether you were on PaddleWise right after the
Wavelength fiasco over sponsons spurred Jackie and others, me included,
to get this listserve started.  Once freed of the pestering, accusations
and personal attacks by that fellow, the discussions on sponsons give
them a more realistic airing including from individuals who had been
attacked viciously on Wavelength for questioning anything about
sponsons.

Hmm, shift the discussion from spouse to sponson.  Very clever, Doug! 
:-)

saludos,

ralph 
-- 
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
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/
***************************************************************************