Hi all, Was thinking about Jim Farrelly's plight re: club insurance and training sessions. My train of thought (I think the engineer was asleep in the caboose) morphed into asking myself why are there paddling clubs, or any activity related clubs in the first place. One of my other activities is rock climbing, and there's a group of friends who act like a club in many ways but are not a formal club. Most climbing requires a partner on the other end of your rope, so you're always looking for at least one other someone to go with you. We've taken to sending e-mails to everyone we climb with announcing our desire to go "here" and do "this" at "this time." Sometimes nobody can go, sometimes six or eight people go. Sometimes we have dinners or birthday parties where we say a lot of climbing words. People come and go from the "circle of friends" as they enter and leave the sport or the geographic area. How is that different from a club? Why should/shouldn't we be formal club? Is there some "club veil" that provides legal protection the members? Does having a formal club attract legal lightning? Why do people form clubs anyway? Why not just go paddling with the same people over and over? Paddling clubs, climbing clubs, scuba clubs. All would seem to have significant skill issues. There must be reasons people formalize their membership. Is it driven internally or externally? Does Doug Lloyd have a club of one up in Vancouver? Is paddlewise a "club"? What are your thoughts? Fair winds and calm seas, Carey *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
<cjp129_at_earthlink.net> wrote: > Is there some "club veil" that provides legal protection the members? Does > having a formal club attract legal lightning? Why do people form clubs > anyway? Why not just go paddling with the same people over and over? You're singing my tune ... except that if you are in an out of the way place (such as where I live), an association of paddlepartners helps to find companions for trips. There is, of course, solo paddling, which is what some 70% of my paddling days involve. After learning the skills to handle the sorts of water he/she wants to paddle, a sea kayaker needs others to improve, I think. A club helps there ... but can hinder if a paddler finds him/herself continually leading a band of novices or folks who depend on a club structure for a cocoon of apparent security. Clubs help during times of trouble with access to the water, such as the tempests in the Oregon legislature this past session ... much as The Access Fund assists clubby- and nonclubby-climbers across the nation. And, if there is a visible structure, with apparently a pocket to plunder, a suit is inevitable in our culture of litigation. So clubs get nailed, while if someone dies on an informal non-club paddletrip, there is no clear assignment of liability because no one took on the mantle of authority. I know for me, the weight of responsibility for others in the days when I ran X-C clinics, X-C overnighters, and guided climbs in the Cascades, destroyed the joy of being in the mountains. Those who bear that weight well I envy and respect ... but that's not for me. That they are more exposed to litigation for their benign labors is a monstrous irony. We need to fix that. -- 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/ ***************************************************************************
In a message dated 7/6/2005 6:39:20 AM Pacific Standard Time, cjp129_at_earthlink.net writes: My train of thought (I think the engineer was asleep in the caboose) morphed into asking myself why are there paddling clubs, or any activity related clubs in the first place. In the old days, when we were wearing skins and other natural fibers, clubs were a form of insurance against loss of territory, cooperative hunting, language development, community planning, etc. In the age of synthetic fibers, clubs have evolved into a powerful social tool. Whether you chase a ball across a field of green, across nets strung over fields of red, clubs still provide a form of protection against loss of territory (standing in club); Cooperative hunting strategies (i.e. single and looking, but you must have a roll or I won't date you); Language development, (feathered versus non-feathered, skegs versus rudders, BCU versus ACA; Community planning, (where will we camp tonight?). It's also what you wear that says as much about you as it does the club you belong to. If I showed up at my moms house wearing fuzzy rubber pants and a fleece vest I 'm pretty sure the next question would be whether I had a guitar in the back seat of my car I can bring out and play. Social standing loss, immeasurable. But put me on a beach with my friends, the next question would be why the Chillcheaters, instead of Rapidstyle? Quickly followed by, How long can you swim in those before you die of hypothermia? Answer, I don't swim. Social standing, improved. Take the ultimate uniform of non-conformity: The biker outfit. It is a blend of the old school animal skin philosophy and modern corporate McDonald's like philosophy of absolute conformity to the goals of the bikers club. The bike, must be a Harley. The jacket, of course, must be black. All metallic surfaces must be chrome, including those teeth having had work in the past. Penalty for not singing the Steepenwolf anthem at 138am from McGilley's Tavern on Route 31, you must buy the last round-for everyone. Never ask a biker if he wants to supersize that. It's worse for kayakers, or almost. You forgot your PFD? No can paddle! What part of, bring a helmet, did you not understand? No, a fleece beanie stuffed with socks and gloves doesn't count. Where is your PFD knife? You must have a PFD knife visible at all times, there are board surfers on this beach with shaved heads and they are looking to expand their territory. Language development in kayaking really takes some skill to adapt to. When you pit boat builders with off-the-rack kayakers, heads start to spin. Casually listening to a conversation of one builder to another, I envisioned a scarf joint as some form of insulation wrapped about a board, to keep it from getting cold, I guess. So that's how they get those interesting patterns into the wood. There now is a use for Aunt Carmen's annual weavings other than the Good Will. Things really take a turn towards the interesting when whitewater boaters out of runnable freshwater show up at the same beach as the guys paddling with slightly modified 2x4's. This is the ultimate juxtaposition of the do it yourself people and the this year's new boat from Riot folks. The conversations, start in gasps, when a thick rubber, almost sleeping bag like garment is rolled down over the top of the head. It carves into the jaw line and bulges the eyes like a cod hauled up from 300 feet real fast. Then the arms slide through the sleeves and the garment drops down to the knees. Heads wobble over to the side inspecting the strange thing. It's a Tuilik, exclaims the bearer. Uh huh, I see, looks nice and waterproof. What's that there, is that a paddle or a volleyball net support? Got it at Home Depot! Home Depot sells paddles? No, the board, I had to carve it. Oh, ya it does look kind of hand made. Does it work? Looks great for poling off the bottom to get out to the break. Wanna try it? No, I got a pro deal and I'm only allowed to paddle with these carbon fiber, bent shaft paddles with injected foam cores. They're all the rage these days. Uh, Huh... As usual there is only one woman on the beach with a paddle in her hand. When her husband turns around all the single guys (3/4th of the paddlers), walk over to chat her up. She's got an offside roll, too! One says to the other. Thank God for fuzzy rubber, the other guy remarks. After a day of surfing the breaks an old fishing net is found and strung up between a pair of 2x4 paddles. A paddlefloat is used for a ball. The 2x4 paddlers seeming immunity from failing rolls earned them the respect of the foam-injected-carbon-bent-shaft-paddles-at-a-great-discount-because-of-their-club-so cial standing paddlers. Besides, there were a hell of a lot of board surfers down the beach looking to expand their territory and a couple of them got run over today. Far into the night over a mug of wine-like liquid from the cardboard vine, they bandied about the merits of rudders and neoprene, drysuits, the stickiest hole and the biggest wave ever surfed. Wolf howls rose from the distant camp of surfers dancing in crcles. They were clearly agitated. Hey guys, what do you think about starting a club? *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
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