RE: [Paddlewise] Deep Trouble with New Boat Purchases

I said...

  I met someone who
>has been paddling a small rec boat for about 3 years, and didn't even
>know what a paddle float was or why in the world you would ever need to
>pump a boat out!!!!!  Scary stuff.

 Then John said....

OK, I'm going to play devils advocate here and naively ask "why is that
so 
scary?"


My response.....

John, I don't disagree with the stuff that followed your question.
Perhaps I should elaborate on what I think is "scary".  

I think it's the lack of awareness that is scary.  For the guy to say
he's a kayaker, then a few minutes later say "why would anybody ever
need to pump a boat out, and what's a... what did you call it.... a
paddle float?"   That, to me, is a bit scary.  

Also, understand the context. I'm not meeting these folks at little farm
ponds.  I'm running into them in the Cheseapeake Bay, complete with
currents, tides, winds, waves, and lots of drunk boaters and idiots
trying to see what happens when they throw you a wake. The Bay isn't the
hardest place in the world to kayak, but it's dangerous nonetheless.

So, John, I read your P'Wise posts and I peg you as a smart guy always
trying to improve on a sound knowledge and experience base.  If "you"
assessed your skills, boat, intended route, weather, location, etc and
decided not to take a pump along for the ride, then I'd say that you're
simply making a judgment call, whether I agreed with that call or not.
*BUT*, if you didn't even know what a pump was used for and why you may
at some point wish you had one, and then launched out into the
Bay....THAT, TO ME, IS WHATS SCARY. 

So, it's not the decision a person makes, it's the lack of awareness
that you're at a "decision point" and don't even know it.  

Hope that made more sense  :-)

Rick

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