<Rick.Sylvia_at_ferguson.com> wrote: >> I've had a lot of fun reading the Jet Ski and PETAJ posts (thanks, all). But, I have to admit, that my on-the-water problems have for the most part been by seemingly good intentioned people who just didn't know what they were doing - mainly power boaters, but a couple jet skiers. >> Great stories, Rick. I've had my share of fun watching other boaters stuck on sand bars (and done my time enjoying the ebb and flood while stuck myself!!). Here's the best one ... and it's one for sea kayakers, not power boaters. One warm late spring afternoon my SO and I scooted across the tide flats on Willapa Bay, WA on a falling tide to the Refuge ramp, avoiding stranding by an hour or so, and proceeded to pack gear and load up when ... up drives a college outing group, some eight or ten strong, mostly newbies with one or two more experienced paddlers. They proceed to unload and get ready to launch. One guy seems to be the leader because everybody else is asking him questions about packing, and so forth. We wonder what they intend -- looks like they have overnight gear, so they must plan on going over the same ground we did, which is now dry and will be dry for another four hours ... extending into what will be a very dark night (no moon). Actually, "dry" is wrong, because much of what they might get stuck on is ploof mud -- thigh deep or so, and stinky as hell. they can't drag kayaks over it. Squirming a little, but not wanting to intrude, we slowly pack our last few bits. Finally, I can't stand it any longer. My curiosity is killing me: what do these folks plan to do? So, I go over to the ostensible leader and ask him how they plan to deal with the falling tide and where they plan to camp. He looks at me blankly and asks, "What's a tide?" It stopped me cold. I could not get a coherent word out. So, I just mumbled about water depth variation and turned and left. I have since wondered what happened. It was warm, and they had good clothing, so they were not in danger. Did they spend the night stranded in their boats? Did they abort? Did they go ashore at a nearer shore and camp illegally? Did any of them later graduate from college? I wonder. -- Dave Kruger Astoria, OR *************************************************************************** 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 Wed Apr 16 2003 - 21:21:01 PDT
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