I was reading the NY Times this morning and was taken by a phrase that appeared in an interview with the author of a new book, "In The Heart of The Sea." The book is about the crew of the whaling ship Essex, which was sunk by a whale, and served as inspiration for Herman Melville's Moby Dick. The author, Nathanial Philbrick, during the course of the NY Times interview said "There is nothing better than the sea in ridding you of the illusion of mastery." Not to denigrate our efforts toward mastery of the sea with elaborate syllabus of technique and rating systems under the umbrella of certifying organizations on both sides of the Atlantic, but I believe this is something to bear in mind. I was pleasantly struck by someone describing the superb goings-on last weekend here in Peekskill, NY in which Atlantic Kayak Tours brought 10 of the top BCU coaches together with several scores of students. The person said that beginners, advanced paddlers and coaches alik all acted as students. This displayed a healthy attitude and respect. I know sometimes a little knowledge and mastery can lead to arrogance. I have seen this among some fledging paddlers who have learned bracing and a decent roll. They take on the airs of masters of their environment the way an inline skater may feel he or she is in control on pathways and sidewalks. They don't really understand what Mr. Philbrick is saying in paragraph two above. Even those BCU coaches who come as close as one possibly can to being "masters" of the sea understand that the sea is really the master. 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/forwarded outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************Received on Tue Aug 01 2000 - 07:47:03 PDT
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