Strosaker_at_aol.com wrote: > > Paddlewisers, > > The San Diego Kayak Club had the good fortune of having Derek Hutchinson > teach his master's clinic and tell his North Sea crossing story last weekend. > I am so glad that I didn't pass up this opportunity. Not only did I learn > some finer points about paddling, but I was also entertained with Derek's > charisma and humor, which alone were well worth the price of the clinic. I > can't help but think how fortunate modern sea kayaking is to have such a > unique and wonderful character as one of its pioneers. I also felt like a > small part of recent sea kayaking history when Derek about had a heart attack > after I did an extreme high brace with a head "dink." > Here is a story _on_ or at the expense of Derek. About four years ago he was in New York City to do what he seems to have been doing on the West Coast, some instruction, some charming. In his first class, which took place at the Downtown Boathouse, he had a mixed bag of paddlers who were salivating at the chance to get a tip or two from the Great One. (This story was related to me by one of the participants as I was not there.) Derek was in his glory and amused by the Yanks who were hanging on every word and gesture of his. He started doing high braces with great pride to show how far he could go over. He then asked the participants to give it a try. One particular woman would follow his cue and do whatever bracing stroke he was demonstrating, only she would be able to go in farther and deeper with much more finesse. He would get over to 80 degrees and she would go to 90 degrees. No matter what he tried, a roll, a brace, she would be in better, deeper form than him. Her hand roll was, for instance, just a whisper of motion. This clearly was driving him nuts, my informant related to me. The reason? This woman is not a particular good _forward_ paddler (I have paddled with her on numerous occasions and know that). But her then boy friend was an excellent whitewater instructor and had taught her well. Derek had earlier sized her up as just a so-so paddler when the group had paddled out to the instruction area and it just confused him no end that she could do so well, better than him, at everything involving _sideways_ movements and rotation of the kayak. You can't always judge a book by its cover. 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 Tue Mar 28 2000 - 11:30:00 PST
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.4.0 : Thu Aug 21 2025 - 16:30:22 PDT