Shawn wrote: So if it's expendable....then why take it in the first place?!!?!?? Reply: Ah dogma. Makes life simple doesn't it? In kayaking as in life, all choices are not black and white, although some folks may pretend they are. Sure, if you don't need it, don't take it - or get a bigger boat. Or ship it ahead by FedEx. I don't care what lead up to someone having this deck load. That is not a point of discussion here - for me. IF, given all the advice and good judgement here on paddlewise, you find yourself with a deck load for whatever reason make DAMN sure you can loose it from your boat if you need to. Expendable is not the same as optional. Expendable - like the fuel that an aircraft might jettison prior to making an emergency landing. Fuel is nice to have, most of the time. Expendable, meaning in normal circumstances it might be highly desireable or even necessary, but given the current circumstances, these same resources are a liability. It's the change in circumstances that re-draws the line between good to have and good ridance. Long term survival will take a back seat to short term survival, since without short term survival the long term is a lot less interesting. I'm not going to assume that everyone paddling a kayak is willing to depart the launch site planning to live like a castaway because there's a "1-in-a-million" (replace with your level of risk tolerance) chance there may be a problem. Just please make sure that you can clear the decks for whatever emergency action may be required at a moment's notice. It's a small thing with a potentially large payoff. C *************************************************************************** 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 Tue May 18 2004 - 08:47:02 PDT
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