Hi Robb, And I thought I was in an isolated Twilight Zone situation, an aberration. :-) I have gotten a lot of positive feedback and "hurrahs" back channel on my post. Some people termed me "heroic" and "I want you in the foxhole with me." I am flattered but I know of at least 3 or 4 of the other kayaker escorts (including Bill Leonhardt who is on PaddleWise and got our logo T-shirts) who would have done what I did in protecting the woman (sans my verbal support in Spanish, which was of extra help). And I suspect one of the kayak escorts would have boarded the motorboat and punched out the skipper. :-) The only kayakers who might not have stood up as several of us would have were the first-timers at escorting who might not have known that the captain in the motorboat had no authority. Let me congratulate you on your stance in the Chesapeake race. I know exactly how you felt; lots of adrenaline, some anger and really proud to have helped someone meet their goal. I am not sure that all the motorboaters really understand why they are there. BTW, last year there was a swim here that went wrong because the organizers had cut the timing too thin (they now consult me religiously). The current turned against the swimmers and legitimately some 20 swimmers had to be pulled because it was too much for them to fight against. However, one swimmer seemed extra determined (I am reporting from what people told me as I was at a wedding and couldn't be there) and the kayakers around the guy decided to let him keep going and stayed with him. It was a herculean challenge but he made it. As he was pulled up on to the dock, the kayakers were stunned and in awe at what they saw. The man had no legs! They hadn't notice the lack of leg splash. The kayaker who described this to me was still beaming several weeks later. Good going, ralph -- ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 Mon Aug 07 2000 - 05:35:29 PDT
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.4.0 : Thu Aug 21 2025 - 16:30:29 PDT