[Paddlewise] Subject: another old man in the sea story

Gordin said:
>>I was out paddling the other day and slowly closed in on this old guy in
a...dory.>snip< Looking him firmly in his one good eye it dawned on me that
I'd seen this man before.  It was Captain Kangaroo...snip..."Just as I
thought, your'n just like that Ralph and Doug always waxin poetic like."<<

Actually, it wasn't Captain Kangaroo, it was old Bill Gay from Jules Verne's
"In search of the Castaways," (Walt Disney version -- starring my favourite
child-actress, Hayley Mills) and as that old codger Mr. William Gay would
say, "Sew the wind, and reap the whirlwind."  Better watch out brother!

And while you aren't quite the consummate satirist you might like to think
you are, it wasn't too bad a try. "A" for effort! I prefer your
reality-based stories however -- like the Orca encounter last week. Perhaps
when you have a few more nautical miles of experience under your belt like
some of the other paddlers on this list, you might be tempted to post a
little less fiction!  :-)

BTW, I didn't mean for my encounter with the old man to come across as
poetic (though it seems many took it that way). I was at the point in the
Vacuum-bagging thread where I had to make a choice: naming names, places,
and boats -- and plunging further into a morass of controversy, or posting a
reflective piece paraphrased from my log book. I choose the latter for
obvious reasons given recent animosities (and a desire not to be shot).

I also wanted to posit my position that amidst all the usual PW techno-talk,
including the relative merits of various hull lamination technologies, it's
probably a good idea to remind ourselves (me, anyway) that there is a whole
wide world of "low-tech" paddlers out there, each in their older Klepper
Aerius kayaks, paddling thousands of incident-free miles, safely negotiating
their way to shore in what I would arguably consider lest robust hulls
(softshells naturally equating a less-robust image than hardshells).

I also, very unfortunately, posted the "Old Man and the Sea" to Paddlewise t
oo quickly in my usual after-work brain-dead state (and too thickly,
apparently), forgetting to add one of my main points of observation from
that day long ago: the old guy was totally relaxed. I, on the other hand,
was jittery, continually low-bracing and drawing sideways. I had meant to
highlight the fact that the hardshell paddler is more reactionary in a messy
sea-state, while the folder paddler seems to be reacting less while relaxing
more. I was going to post a follow-up, but ralph picked this up right away.
Ralph is of course a true, intuitive visionary, and an eloquent spokesperson
for that segment of the paddling population. Being newer to the list,
perhaps you were not as aware of ralphs passionate, yet well-respected
contributions to the kayaking community at large. I'm not about to "convert"
to his religion, but it is nice to know some of my observations merit accord
with his actual experience in the folding-boat field, as it does with
others.

As far as waxing poetic, if I have, I'm sorry; this sport has provided
something very special to me -- and it actually goes beyond superlatives and
mere language. It is a pastime that would appear to always deliver greater
returns than the effort expended -- for those that like the water. It is
often difficult to restrain myself. And what of meeting up with old men of
the sea and other paddlers like Timo Noko of Finland, et al, out on the
salt-chuck? Well, get out on the water more, and perhaps you will find out.
:-)


Doug Lloyd
Victoria BC

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~
"Whatever can be said at all can be said clearly and whatever cannot be said
clearly should not be said at all."
Ludwig Wittgenstein
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~

***************************************************************************
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/
***************************************************************************