[Paddlewise] Somebody freaking smack me/trusting a newbie

 >  If I can offer any advice from what I have learned, it's to never trust
 >a newbie, discuss everything, and plan-not hope for the best.
 >
 >Your report illustrates a very dangerous truth about newbies. That they
 >don't know enough to have any concept of what they do and do not know.

  Ok...now I'm mad. All this talk about newbies is hitting a little too 
close to home. First off, I do not want to be called a newbie. It's 
insulting and degrading and I'd prefer to be called KSD...kayak skills 
deficient. You don't know the shame I've have to endure whenever I hear 
that word. Second it should be known that there is a big difference between 
being KSD and being an anal aperture. Unfortunately anal apertures frequent 
all walks of life, all races and creeds and all sports and skill levels. 
You would have thought natural selection would have weeded them all out by 
now but that's another story.
   Unless you were rolling in the womb everyone has been KSD once. It's a 
dangerous time for sure. Whenever your enthusiasm exceeds your skill level 
in anything you do it can be a 911 call waiting to happen. But at some 
point if you want to do something you have to push the envelope a little 
and do it. No one would have paddled their second mile if they didn't push 
themselves a little after the first....damn that's profound.
    I am NOT saying anyone should go out there unprepared and with no 
knowledge of the risks involved. But like it or not I have to start with no 
skills and whatever knowledge I can accumulate. Risky 
behavior....sure....but let's take a poll. Which of the following is the 
most risky behavior....

a KSD in a new boat on a lake

a windy crossing riding down steep swells in the rain with ice forming on 
your deck

carrying a loaded 12ga in the cockpit

camping with bears

carrying a dog in an open hatch

a long paddle in a tandem with your spouse

See...a KSD on a lake ain't so bad.

There are KSD's among you who may not know exactly how to do it, but they 
do know exactly what they're doing. I know this because I've heard from 
them on the back channel. Many are here for the same reason I am, we want 
to know and there's a lot of good information to be had here. But you 
better be nice to us. If it wasn't for all the new paddlers all that new 
kayak gear you're using would be really expensive or nonexistent...and 
you'd have no one to laugh at.

dave
w/ tongue firmly planted in cheek






     
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