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 *************************************************************************** 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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