Re: [Paddlewise] Paddlesports show at UNH

Allison Corning wrote:

> I'm glad to see that something like this is really popular and that the
> sport seems to be thriving, but it is a telling thing when there are three
> times as many people in the seminar on how to buy a boat than in the one on
> basic navigation skills.
> -A

This was a concern of mine as well, I guess it shows that I am getting safety
conscious in my old age. :-)  I discussed it a bit the next day at the Country
Canoeist.  When I mentioned to Ann (one of the owners) that it concerned me to
see all of those boats leaving the parking lot at the show, and wondering how
many of them don't have a clue about what they are doing.  It was obvious that
she was concerned about it as well.  The conversation took a down turn when one
of the other customers told us that the previous day a new kayaker had died less
than 50 miles from us.  He was out alone on a river near flood stage.  The
reports I read indicate that he got caught in a strainer and didn't know how to
wet exit.
    I was happy to note that the rescue demonstration at the Paddlesports show
was well attended, though.

Mike


--
    Paddling along through fog so thick that only one's thoughts are
visible, your reverie is abruptly shattered by the ancient cry of a great
blue heron as she lifts uncertainly from the brilliant blue of a
mussel-shell beach witnessed only by the brooding, wet spruce....your
passage home seems as much back through time as it does through space.
Mark H Hunt


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