Re: [Paddlewise] A Story: Crossing the Baltic Sea

From: <Strosaker_at_aol.com>
Date: Thu, 1 Nov 2001 11:23:03 EST
Ari,

I enjoyed your story and photos.  It is especially nice to read about 
kayaking on Paddlewise from areas other than North America.  I also think 
your story provided some good examples about what can go wrong while sea 
kayaking.  It sounded like the crossing shouldn't have started in what were 
already poor conditions.  It also sounded like there were some paddlers (not 
you but the ones who capsized) who didn't have the skills for crossings but 
probably went because they felt the others could keep them out of trouble.  
Don't get me wrong, I am an advocate of hard-core paddling, but only when all 
of the paddlers are up to the challenge and have the right conditions, which 
was not the case here.  While the story was well written, entertaining and 
educational, it was also a poor example of proper sea kayaking.  I hope 
others learn from it that a group is only as strong as its weakest paddler 
and that one should never depend on a group to keep him or her out of trouble.

Duane

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Received on Thu Nov 01 2001 - 08:23:21 PST

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