HOMELESS NO MORE Submitted to the Paradise Paddlers newsletter by Sandy Kramer After several months of planning, the online paddlers met in Miami/Key Largo over Presidents' Day weekend. What started with someone's "how nice it would be to paddle in warm water instead of freezing our buns off up here" comment took on a life of its own. The 10 most important things I learned about hosting a group of visitors: 1. Numbers change. The initial rush was eventually replaced with cancellations as job conflicts, family emergencies, and unexpected expenses intervened. 2. Scheduling ain't easy. I learned it was not even remotely reasonable to think I could have the gang (Bob and Joan Volin and John Fereira) - including food for several meals - in Key Largo by 8:30 a.m. 3. Allow an hour for boat rental activities. Trying out different boats and checking out the goodies at Florida Bay Outfitters took longer than I thought. 4. Apologizing sucks. When we finally reached the Indian Key put-in visitors Tina Scholnick and Kathy Peirce were sitting on a rock in the hot sun. The rest had set off. I sincerely apologize to all of you. It was a gorgeous day, so I'm sure you enjoyed it anyway. 5. Self-guided tours can be great. Thanks to Pat Moss, who turned back to Lignum Vitae Key, we were given a delightful tour. What she had just learned from the ranger-led tour was augmented by her own knowledge of local flora. The rest of the paddle to Indian Key was very enjoyable. We ate, swam, and some of us walked around the former seat of Dade County. 6. Be careful where you park. What appeared to be a perfectly acceptable parking spot turned out to be right in the line of fire of a boat trailer. Seeing part of your fender lying on the ground is not a pretty sight. 7. Lateness begets lateness. If you're late to the paddle, and you don't have clean clothes to change into, you're gonna be late to the Happy Hour. In fact, Happy Hour was over by the time we got there (I do like to shower before going out), but we sat outside and enjoyed the music. Joan Volin was able to get her conch fritters and key lime pie. 8. I'm not as young as I used to be. By Sunday my energy had failed and I felt it prudent to miss the paddle and stay home to get an extra boost via a couple of siestas. 9. Go with the flow. Although this is my usual motto, there were times when we were flowing with the go. By the time we got Hank Berger to the Wellman's house for an overnight camping paddling trip (after changing a flat tire in the Oleta parking lot prior to heading to MIA to pick up the Volins - and I'd forgotten the flight info at home!) the flow had completely upped and gone! 10. It's great to meet online "friends" in person. My personal measure of the event's success is two-fold. The visitors got to paddle in warm water and they all returned without suffering any mishaps. I could not have pulled this off without the help of several friends. Marinell Davis set up a Web site for the event, and continuously bolstered, advised, and encouraged me. Sharon Alvarado hosted Tina and Kathy (as well as Betsy Barnicle who was also homeless that night). Pat Moss offered online advice and helped on the Saturday paddle. Keith and Nancy Wellman hosted Hank Berger. Other folk offered suggestions re housing and logistics. Also, my ex-husband, Bill Kramer, who graciously allowed some indoor campers, and FBO's Moonshine: Monica Woll, without whom I would have been up the proverbial creek without a paddle. Thanks to all of you. *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
Congratulations on pulling it off as smoothly as you did. These events are never easy. Our experience in the one up here for Memorial Day Weekend 2000 got no real out-of-towners as we (Joan Volin and me) had thought we would. You would think that Memorial Day paddling in the exotic environment (for many paddlers anyway) or a President's Weekend paddle in warmer Florida climes for northerners would draw more response. But that's how it goes. So don't feel letdown. Anyway, you did get a chance to meet Bob and Joan Volin one of the most interesting couples around in the paddling world and always a delight to be around. I particularly like Bob...he laughs at anything I say...even serious stuff! :-) Sandy, you seem to be getting around. You may be the PaddleWiser who has managed to meet the most people from the list who hail from 500 miles or more away. (Locally the list has been really good for getting many Paddlewisers together within an area) I know you have had stray PaddleWise visitors and we met when you were here visiting your son who lives in NYC. BTW, Joan and Bob have the distinction of making it to two of these loosely-associated-with-Paddlewise get-togethers. Another BTW, regarding getting people together. About a month or so ago I was looking through my subscriber renewals and saw that I had two fellows living in Hong Kong both of whom said they weren't aware of other paddlers in the area. Naturally I introduced them via email and they and their wives have met and are planning to paddle together. I know we have the Who We Are list in which PaddleWisers have submitted location and paddling preferences etc. Is that list searchable by place? If so, paddlers on PaddleWise may want to check it out; also newcomers might want to submit their particulars to it. I forget where the list can be found. 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 - 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/ ***************************************************************************
At 11:52 AM 2/25/01 -0500, ralph diaz wrote: >Anyway, you did get a chance to meet Bob and Joan Volin one of the most >interesting couples around in the paddling world and always a delight to be >around. I particularly like Bob...he laughs at anything I say...even >serious stuff! :-) Although I had met Bob and Joan at the AKT symposium last summer I hadn't actually paddled with them, and took great pleasure in doing so at the Florida reunion. >Sandy, you seem to be getting around. Thank you so much for hosting this, Sandy. I had a wonderful time. I'll jot down my thought about the trip in a separate message. *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
I just wanted to thank Sandy for the tremendous amount of work she put into hosting the reunion. Because of a last minute offer to kayak and camp in the everglades, I missed the reunion activities, but I did at least get to meet most of the other attendees. And I did have a wonderful long weekend of assorted paddling adventures. Now that we had to go to Florida to meet, I look forward to paddling with Bob and Joan Viola on our home grounds, or should I say waters. On Friday, I did get to paddle with Sandy, John Fereira, and some local paddlers at Oleta River, a lovely state park on Biscayne Bay, though we found out upon leaving that we had actually not been paddling on the river. The previous day, Sandy, Marinell Davis, and I had paddled in the Coral Gables waterway, seeing a number of beautiful birds and a lot of golfers on the course that the now frequently seen picture of Clinton and Hugh Rodham was taken on. We didn't see them or the manatees which appeared to have already left for colder waters. As opposed to the Clintons who have found their way into hotter waters. The Everglades kayak camping was great, and I am very appreciative of the efforts and hospitality of my local hosts, Keith and Nancy Wellman, with whom I hope to kayak again. Two of many highlights on that trip were catching a 24inch sea trout (all right, it was 23inches and a fraction), my first fish caught from a kayak, and getting my kayak rammed by a shark whose dorsal fin I saw heading right at me. On my last kayaking day, Marinell Davis and I paddled the Loxahatchie River, a beautiful national wild and scenic river, surrounded by cypress and Spanish moss, that was a wonderful change from mangroves. I am very appreciative of Marinell's hospitality throughout my visit, including taking me to Bass World, where I was held prisoner for some indeterminable period of time. Even though I needed a good rest upon returning, I felt my engines really got charged by this infusion of warm water winter paddling that is making me feel that spring is near. Thank you again, Sandy, for all the work you put into the reunion. Even though few people were able to take advantage of the opportunity, if the one's that did had anything approaching the time that I had, it was a tremendous success. Hank In a message dated 2/25/01 9:33:39 AM Eastern Standard Time, Gypsykayak_at_aol.com writes: << HOMELESS NO MORE Submitted to the Paradise Paddlers newsletter by Sandy Kramer After several months of planning, the online paddlers met in Miami/Key Largo over Presidents' Day weekend. What started with someone's "how nice it would be to paddle in warm water instead of freezing our buns off up here" comment took on a life of its own. The 10 most important things I learned about hosting a group of visitors: 1. Numbers change. The initial rush was eventually replaced with cancellations as job conflicts, family emergencies, and unexpected expenses intervened. 2. Scheduling ain't easy. I learned it was not even remotely reasonable to think I could have the gang (Bob and Joan Volin and John Fereira) - including food for several meals - in Key Largo by 8:30 a.m. 3. Allow an hour for boat rental activities. Trying out different boats and checking out the goodies at Florida Bay Outfitters took longer than I thought. 4. Apologizing sucks. When we finally reached the Indian Key put-in visitors Tina Scholnick and Kathy Peirce were sitting on a rock in the hot sun. The rest had set off. I sincerely apologize to all of you. It was a gorgeous day, so I'm sure you enjoyed it anyway. 5. Self-guided tours can be great. Thanks to Pat Moss, who turned back to Lignum Vitae Key, we were given a delightful tour. What she had just learned from the ranger-led tour was augmented by her own knowledge of local flora. The rest of the paddle to Indian Key was very enjoyable. We ate, swam, and some of us walked around the former seat of Dade County. 6. Be careful where you park. What appeared to be a perfectly acceptable parking spot turned out to be right in the line of fire of a boat trailer. Seeing part of your fender lying on the ground is not a pretty sight. 7. Lateness begets lateness. If you're late to the paddle, and you don't have clean clothes to change into, you're gonna be late to the Happy Hour. In fact, Happy Hour was over by the time we got there (I do like to shower before going out), but we sat outside and enjoyed the music. Joan Volin was able to get her conch fritters and key lime pie. 8. I'm not as young as I used to be. By Sunday my energy had failed and I felt it prudent to miss the paddle and stay home to get an extra boost via a couple of siestas. 9. Go with the flow. Although this is my usual motto, there were times when we were flowing with the go. By the time we got Hank Berger to the Wellman's house for an overnight camping paddling trip (after changing a flat tire in the Oleta parking lot prior to heading to MIA to pick up the Volins - and I'd forgotten the flight info at home!) the flow had completely upped and gone! 10. It's great to meet online "friends" in person. My personal measure of the event's success is two-fold. The visitors got to paddle in warm water and they all returned without suffering any mishaps. I could not have pulled this off without the help of several friends. Marinell Davis set up a Web site for the event, and continuously bolstered, advised, and encouraged me. Sharon Alvarado hosted Tina and Kathy (as well as Betsy Barnicle who was also homeless that night). Pat Moss offered online advice and helped on the Saturday paddle. Keith and Nancy Wellman hosted Hank Berger. Other folk offered suggestions re housing and logistics. Also, my ex-husband, Bill Kramer, who graciously allowed some indoor campers, and FBO's Moonshine: Monica Woll, without whom I would have been up the proverbial creek without a paddle. Thanks to all of you >> *************************************************************************** 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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