Re: [Paddlewise] What Changed?

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Ok, Doug after I got over my jealousy of you for being able to do all 
those cool trips :-), I began think about what you said.  If you are 
referring to the addrinaline rush inherent to a first time paddle, 
especially if the paddle is to be done at a place that sounds as 
forboding as some of those places, I suppose you are right.

But, at least on one level, I have to disagree.  I'm just a poor paddler 
who, basically because of finances, is restricted to the south east 
coast.  Every Year, I take a group people from my Church (mostly Furman 
University Students, and mostly beginners) to Capers Island, SC for a 
weekend paddle.  I am not yet a certified guide, so I tend to err on the 
cautious side when I do these trips.  Even though The release form I 
make them sign basically says that they are commiting suicide if they 
paddle with me and I can not be held responsible, Deep down inside, 
somewhere in the vast crevices of my dark heart, I would really rather 
they all get back alive, so I get nervous when the wind is blowing just 
a little to strongly, especially if its not in just the right direction. 
 I always take the same route, yet still take my gps, and set up an 
alternate route, just in case.  I spend more time worrying about my 
group when one of those barges pass us by in the ICW then I do enjoying 
a good wake, and you wouldn't believe how close have I come to cursing 
God when the stern wave is just a little too high (which doesn't have to 
be very high at all).

I say all that to say that those trips, I hope, are well beneath my 
skill level, and you'd think, very routine.  But every year has been 
very different in many ways.  I've never encountered the same paddling 
conditions, weather conditions, or even the same challenges related to 
having 5-10 beginner paddlers along.  I have to tell you I wouldn't 
trade that routine trip for the world.  Mystery still hasn't left our 
little two night stays on a remote island (actually its not so remote, 
its only about 10 miles from Charleston) that you can paddle to in as 
little as an hour if you take the most direct route.  

Thx, Rich

By the way, I have to say, the closest I ever came to real trouble while 
on that trip was this last time we went - the, time, I would like to 
think, that I had the most skill of all the trips.  We'd been paddleing 
all weekend and I was finally starting to relax.  The Beginners seemed 
to be doing quite well in the fairly strong stern wind that was whipping 
whipping up some pretty good waves from the rear, and hey, it was help 
us cut a two and half hour paddle in half.  So, I started trying to take 
some pics.  Then one of those barges I was talking about decided to pass 
us.  I was so concentrating on keeping my camera still, that I didn't 
hear my sweep warning me, or the boat (and those boats are loud. . . 
 most have been my A.D.D. :-) )  Anyway, here comes the wake, right 
across the beam of course, and, without my paddle in my hand, over I go. 
 By the time I got the camera stowed, and my paddle in position, I was 
almost too out of breath to do a roll (no, I'm not skilled enough to do 
a hand roll yet).  I should have just bailed because my sweep panicked 
and decided to try to get to me to do a T-rescue even though I wasn't 
signaling that I needed one, and my head hit his boat, as I was trying 
to make it up.  By the time I did bail, I think I must have been blue 
because everybody in the group looked like they'd seen a ghost when I 
popped out of the water.  Oh well,  All's well that ends well I guess. 
 It was great time to show assisted rescue techniques to a bunch newbies :-)


dalloyd_at_telus.net wrote:

>Why does it always seem so different when a paddler revisits a coastline a
>year or years later? Sure, there's a different rocky berm at previous
>landings possibly, or different patterns of beach dispersal and weather,
>etc, but the second time back always seems less mysterious, smaller, less
>hazardous and less invigorating.
>
>The first time I went to north Brooks, it was so intimidating and
>otherworldly. Now I just kick my feet up, read a book, mentally go over the
>hazards in a orderly fashion, and yawn.
>
>The first time I circumnavigated Sidney Island off Victoria, it was like
>this long trek, wild winds wickedly beating me up off the south end, and
>scary crossings in the chop. Now I do laps around it without a second
>thought.
>
>The first time I paddled out of Bamfield, the Deer Group was so forlorn and
>foreboding. Now it seems like an natural extension of the peninsula,
>separated by a itty bitty bit of water.
>
>I guess the answer is somewhat obvious, but I was wondering if other
>paddlers have suffered the same change in perception so acutely the next
>time they went paddling in the same area again.
>
>Doug Lloyd
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