Mark, You have got to be kidding me. Sorry, but I can't let this one pass. As a career naval officer, I can tell you that your high vertical stroke is no problem. I can't go into too many details, but please trust me on this, the rules of engagement (ROE) are such that you'd have to do waaay more than just paddle by to even be considered a possible target. It's true that post 9/11 security has been tightened up considerably, but maintain the required stand off as prequested and you'll be in no danger whatsoever. I routinely paddle near Navy bases, and the most that's ever happened is that sometimes the security folks will ask me to steer clear of the area by a slightly greater stand-off than I was observing. Unless you make your paddle look like a surface to air missile or high power rifle (pretty hard to do) you'll be fine. I suspect that the Coasties may have been jerking your chain a bit, polite or not. Happy Paddling, Kevin Original message (excerpts): "Our group of 5 kayaks... had noticed a small coast guard vessel coming towards us... a military ship was about to leave port.. stay 500 yards away from the orange zodiac... with the machine gun... suggested that we not "raise our paddles too high". It might look like we were trying to fire something and we could be shot ... I am going to have to learn to move the kayak without raising the the blade high" *************************************************************************** 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 Mon Feb 16 2004 - 05:44:13 PST
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