Hi, my name is Gary Palmer. I've been lurking on the list for a while and decided to go ahead and decloak, even though, being a newcomer to kayaking, I 'm sure I have nothing to add to the discussions. There are a lot of experts on this list and I stand in awe of the combined experience available. I live in Yreka, California, about 25 miles from the Oregon border (a town which, it seems, everyone on the west coast has "driven through.") I'm working toward my second retirement, and am finally getting around to trying some of the things I have missed over the years. I've spent years on the water. I've surfed and paddled about everything there is to paddle, except a kayak. I'm real comfortable on the water but never felt the need to paddle anything so skinny. Now that I'm older, I'm looking for some more sedate excitement and touring and camping sounds great. I recently bought a kevlar touring boat and after weeks of snow, frozen lakes, 55 mph winds, etc., finally got it on the water today. After getting used to the "stability," I was able to paddle 3 or 4 miles on a local lake, and managed to stay dry. (I know I will have to get used to wet exits, rolling, reentries, and all that but with the water temperature in the mid 30's, I was happy to stay dry today.) Paddling the boat reminded me a little of learning to hover a helicopter. In a helicopter, it is like you are balanced on a ball that is floating in the water. It is impossible for a new pilot to maintain a steady hover and the helo will be all over the sky until the pilot learns to anticipate movement and counter it before it actually happens. What starts out as a racing mind and large, rapid control movements, eventually becomes imperceptible pressures that are not even thought about. It seems that learning to kayak must follow the same process, or else you'd all be doing some other sport. I know that after about an hour and a half on the water, I was fairly able to control the boat with knee pressure rather than flailing around like I was fighting off sharks. I just hope the learning curve is shorter than the 30 hours or so it takes to develop a decent hover. I will now recloak and stand back and listen to you guys while I learn to do this. Thanks for sharing your experiences. Gary Palmer *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
Gary Palmer wrote: > > Hi, my name is Gary Palmer. I've been lurking on the list for a while and > decided to go ahead and decloak, even though, being a newcomer to kayaking, > I 'm sure I have nothing to add to the discussions. There are a lot of > experts on this list and I stand in awe of the combined experience > available. >From the rest of your posting it is obvious that you will have much to add > > I live in Yreka, California, about 25 miles from the Oregon border <big snip of some rather interesting analogies about piloting a helicopter and kayaking> > > I will now recloak and stand back and listen to you guys while I learn to do > this. Thanks for sharing your experiences. Welcome Gary, we will be interested in hearing about your future kayaking exploits. There are a couple of others on the list who have flown rescue and have shared some valuable information on color visibility. Be interested on your take on it. Have a boat on order with colors that may give it stealth ability- to everything but radar, the metallic flakes will make it go crazy. I knew an engineer who was instrumental in designing a fixed rotor for a military helicopter for Boeing who would never go up in one- I, on the other hand, always wanted to. gabriel -- Gabriel L Romeu http://studiofurniture.com furniture, mixed media http://members.xoom.com/gabrielR a daily observation, photograph ± text http://studiofurniture.com/paint paintings, etchings, photographs and objects *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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