Definition, wuss: a spineless creature, turned jelly like with fear. Some of you may think this is cute and laugh a bit. Whether this is a joke at my expense of the laughter of the shared but denied experience only you can tell. And for the younger folk you may miss it entirely but, again we'll see in a few years. Now my wife says I'm long winded and I promise to work on that, just not yet. You see I am "losing my groove", or at least my balance, gaining fear and worst of all turning into a 'wuss'. Now I am a decent paddler. I have two folding kayaks and a couple sit on tops and I have had a plastic double and a surf ski which I did not do very well with. I have handled a bunch of difficult waves in Lake Superior, Pudget Sound, Hawaii and in Northern & Southern California. Not long, great expeditions or hairy class 5 whitewater but enough to have some experience under my belt. But the skills seem to be fading. A recent example: My wife & I were out paddling our sit on top kayaks a couple weeks ago. We launched out of King Harbor in Redondo Beach, CA, Unlike some harbors it is just a couple minutes to being out on the ocean. The swells were pretty big, some of the larger ones we have been on but they were not breaking. In fact on a scale of 1 to 5 the whole paddle prospect was a 3 and if you are one of those ice bound folks who have been cooped up all winter waiting for a paddle it would be at least a 4. But I did not feel comfortable with the waves. And I have been on bigger waves than this. As long as I faced the swells I felt fine but that meant only that I would paddle away from shore forever. I was dreading turning around and there was little fun in not feeling comfortable going diagonal to the waves to get where ever I wanted. So I turned back in but my wife was happy as a lark to be out. Yes, she knew the swells were pretty big but we had handled ones like this so what was the problem? So we might dump & recover. But I really didn't want to dump & recover. It was fun in Hawaii but even with the wet suits I just didn't want to do that to myself. I know I am freezing up. Its like watching a kid learn to use a bicycle or to ski, you know they need to loosen up but how can I get my self to do that? So my balance may be off, maybe due to loosing 30+ lbs in the last 4 months, but you think my balance would be better. Or maybe I am just getting older (recently turned 50), but my wife doesn't seem to suffer from this syndrome. And maybe I really need to paddle my folding boats, I have come to love their flexing and seaworthiness. Yes, I know the sit on tops are about as stable as a kayak can get superseded only by something like my folding kayak or a cruise ship. So whats the prescription? Put back on some weight? Have a few beers? Get out and paddle more? Take a rolling class? Skip the rough stuff and stick to the bays where I love to paddle & watch the birds? I tried my folding single kayak out today just on the back bay and its great. I love the rhythm of the paddle. I love the bird life but a man does not like to bee seen as a wuss in his wife's eyes. "A man with one watch knows what time it is, a man with two watches is never sure..." - Albert Einstein *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
From: "Frank & Susan Malinowski" <yakers_at_earthlink.net> > Definition, wuss: a spineless creature, turned jelly like with fear. > > Some of you may think this is cute and laugh a bit. > [...] > So whats the prescription? Put back on some weight? Have a few beers? Get > out and paddle more? Take a rolling class? None of the above. > Skip the rough stuff and stick > to the bays where I love to paddle & watch the birds? Maybe. What I got out of your post was a message that you just weren't comfortable that day. So? Last week I was kayaking for the first time this season (it's been a long ski season - for a change!). Instead of my own kayak, I used my partner's (first time it's been on the water). It's a tad skittish compared to mine. The air temp was 25C (77F); the water was maybe +2C (35-36F) - the worst combination. I decided on the wet suit over the dry suit because of the heat and decided to stay inside the breakwater and follow the shore after seeing the waves and wind. I probably looked like a beginner. My technique was off, if for no other reason than feeling nervous about an unfamiliar kayak, frigid water and very high winds. I cut my paddle short - to about half what I planned. Wimp? No just being smart and not pushing my luck. There's are other days to paddle. I think you did the right thing. You went with your feelings and errored on the side of caution. This has nothing to do with being a wimp. If you push and fail, especially after feeling uncomfortable about the situation, you get less out of paddling and may end up drifting away from it. You're in it for the pleasure, not to be a hero. Mike PS the rolling class could be fun. *************************************************************************** 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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