Scott Bemis asked: >> With these notes, why are experienced sea kayakers so hostile to the mere mention of the word "sponsons"? >> Scott, it's not sponsons members of Paddlewise are hostile to so much as Tim and the way he promotes them. I think the word "sponson" is avoided partly in jest, partly to prevent Tim from using search engines to find discussions on the subject to quote from. (I'm one of those Tim has quoted on his Web site without permission.) Paddlewise was founded as a moderated list to get away from the acrimonious sponson debates that had become endemic on the Wavelength list, in which Tim quoted out of context, twisted logic, and even accused his opponents of murder in frequent and excessively lengthy posts that repeated the same arguments over and over again ad nauseam. In the early days of Paddlewise, in Tim's absence, there was a relatively unheated, objective discussion about sponsons in which several people said they found them useful for certain limited types of kayaking activity, but in which no one seemed to think they were a panacea. You can find that discussion on the Paddlewise Web site. The problem with Tim is that he is religiously fanatic about sponsons. He honestly believes that sponsons are necessary to kayaking safety, tendentiously discounts alternatives such as rolling and paddle float rescues, and has tried to persuade the Coast Guard to make them legally mandated equipment. Have you ever had a religious fanatic tell you you were going to Hell unless you accepted his particular uninformed interpretation of the Bible? (There was one preaching on the corner across from Williams Arena as the crowd left the Wellstone memorial service Tuesday night. "Boy, is he preaching to the wrong crowd," said Linda.) That's what Tim is like. His Web site will give you a little of the flavor; I'm sure you can find the URL. In the absence of any explanation to the contrary, I and other Paddlewisers justifiably believe Kait O'Hara's research for the Coast Guard is due to Tim's efforts to make his sponsons mandatory equipment. While I applaud her effort -- however uninformed -- to make a balanced report, I do think that if she would like the genuinely useful expertise and cooperation of the kayakers on Paddlewise, she should explain to us the purpose of her research, and its context and methodology (apparently the Word summary and spreadsheet based on the Paddlewise discussion are to be supplements to a longer report). I also recommend that she educate herself about sea kayaking by at least reading a few books and viewing some videotapes on the subject (it's probably a bit late in the season to take up the sport, though maybe not to take a class). For our part, I think it would be to our advantage as sea kayakers to help her as much as possible to understand the subject rather than meet her with hostility. Chuck Holst *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************Received on Thu Oct 31 2002 - 09:42:56 PST
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