[Paddlewise] Subject: Sponsons Permission/Assistance

Ms. O'Hara said:

<<<My name is Kait O'Hara.  I believe Kirk Olsen may have written you
about my project.  The U.S. Coast Guard has hired me to do a search for
information on sponson use in the paddling community.>>>
<snip>

Kaitlin,
A "search for information" eh? I thought the Coast Guard did their own
"searching" down in your neck of the woods -- er, waters. :-)  Well,
perhaps they are busy with real searches. Up here in Canada, the Coast
Guard/Fisheries certainly have more pressing matters. Though I'm sure
there is a thick file somewhere in Ottawa with a flood of faxes from the
eccentric "inventor" of  sponsons-for-kayaks. And I'm equally sure it's
all neatly filed under "thinly supported,"  "overstated," or perhaps
"who in the hell is this guy anyway?"

So you want information on sponson use in the paddling community. Well,
hopefully your neighbors here to the north might be allowed some
additional input. We certainly are a honest bunch up here for the most
part, and if a product is mediocre -- while we might be inclined not to
say anything too rude -- most Canadian paddlers I know would be more
than willing to give you their observational affirmations or lack of
them; unfortunately, there isn't much to say about the SeaWings type
safety product. There isn't mush preference for them here. Even the
disabled paddling clubs use dual-trailing Paddlefloats. Moreover, what
you will get are views that espouse compatibility with risk-management
modernity, including in most cases agreement that proper training is the
valid yardstick -- not what the specific regionally preferred back-up
gear is. It might be interesting to study all the kayaking fatalities
over the last few years (possibly one's where there is this apparent
authorial musing and contract-cashola over the appropriateness of
sponsons) and determine how many of those paddlers lacked good,
effective training through some recognized, germane paddling skills
course (or equivilant). Now there's a study I'd support -- in any
country.

But don't quote me. I'm with Jackie Fenton on this particular issue.
Timmy, as we like to call him, has misquoted even myself on his web
site. All I did was write few safety articles for Sea Kayaker magazine,
which included (and continues to include) critical incident reviews,
wet-entry techniques, and the general advancement of certain safety
imperatives. Tim has distorted my arguments, has used
dischronologization of incident sequencing, has been curiously selective
of what he chose to take out from textual highlights so as to make it
appear that unequivocal support had been garnished for his sponsons,
omited significant sentences, and used rhetorical guise to appear
perspicuous to anyone persuadable and unaware of his mendicant appeals
-- ones that should have begged the question, "what was the original
context."

So you might wonder why some of us are a little sponson-phobic. You
might wonder why surging emotions swell up and suddenly seem to swamp
this little cockleshell plea of yours for sponson-use information. Then
again, you might not. Perhaps you just want to compile information as
contracted and get on to the next CG contract task (ship-to-shore
tethers for sailboarders). Well, fine. At least drop the ballast rocks
overboard before you sink anymore intellectual exchange. Those ballast
rocks were an inside joke (if that isn't very obvious to you by now),
and self-referential (causing the biggest laugh I've had in a year when
I saw it referenced in your draft portion -- sorry, nothing personal,
it's just that one can't fabric such real-life humour).

I do hope you find some objectivity in all this. But I do wonder why
individuals such as yourself so readily go to the "net" to harvest
information from chat lines. I'd think it somewhat unwise to seek and
suggest that a somewhat specious, vocational group like rec.boat and
Paddlewise are an ethnos to be overly quoted from to the point of
drowning out more solid raw data. Surely the opinions of professional
guiding associations, head coaching staff of various teaching
organizations, pro-sport paddling stores, and other experts might yield
greater legitimacy. Then again, maybe you went that route too. And
perhaps the opinions and information accrued from this listserver group
do offer some validity. Now all we need is some forthrightness from you
regarding what the governmental authorities and you are possibly, really
up to here. But that would be too honest perhaps.

Doug Lloyd



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