RE: [Paddlewise] Kayakers helping others (not)

>From: "Seng, Dave" <Dave_Seng_at_health.state.ak.us>

>   Last summer while returning from a multiday fishing/skiff trip I
>encountered a solo kayaker about 25 miles south of Juneau.  He waved his
>arms and I slowly approached - he didn't speak English very well and my
>Swedish(?) isn't very good, but I eventually understood that he wanted to
>know whether the inlet a mile distant was Tracy Arm - I told him no, that 
>it
>was another 20 or so miles further and then, reconsidering, gave him my
>chart.
>
>Dave Seng

You're more charitable (chart-it-able?) than I Dave. About four years ago I 
did a week long trip in Clayoquot Sound with a friend. For those not from 
the Pacific Northwest Coast of North America, I'll explain that this area is 
a complicated archipelago of islands, with strong tides, exposed open coast 
paddling, offshore reefs and rocks, muscular currents, and limited landing 
places.
On our last night out we tucked into a little bay to camp, and were hailed 
by the male half of another kayaking couple. They were on their first day 
out from Tofino and planned to do more or less the trip we had done to 
Hotsprings Cove. Buddy asked if we could tell him where they were. "Sure" I 
said naively "Just bring your chart on over and I'll point it out". Turned 
out they had no charts for this area - they had made a last minute change of 
plans about where they where going to paddle, and as Buddy said, he felt 
he'd already spent enough on charts (for the other area!) The unspoken 
implication hung in the air that since we were on our way back, we should be 
nice guys and make them a present of one set of our charts (naturally, both 
of us each had our own full set). I didn't bite. Beside my natural Scottish 
reluctance to part with more than $100.00 worth of charts, I didn't want to 
detract from their sense of discovery and exploration (or to interfere with 
natural selection)!
Call me selfish, but Buddy venturing deliberately into a situation like this 
did not bring forth the same urge to be of help that I usually feel when 
folks have unwittingly got themselves into difficulties.

Philip Torrens
N49°16' W123°06'

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