On 10/10/07, Rcgibbert_at_aol.com <Rcgibbert_at_aol.com> wrote: > > He is such an aquired taste, I find it difficult to think about him > without > copious flags coming up. He has done great things for the sport and that > will > be a bill we will forever pay upon. Like one of those adjustable rate > mortgages. Still, a good asset for the sport. Derek is a great showman. I watched his paddle strokes demonstration and even loaned him my wing paddle so he could use that. He did tricks and tipped his hat in a bracing stroke and the crowd loved it. So did I. His interview doesn't come off quite so well. Remarks about not dressing for immersion in the old days are true enough but somewhat scary in a modern context where most sea kayakers have never been white-water paddlers. We didn't dress for immersion mostly because we had nothing suitable available. I used to paddle in the rain wearing K-mart plastic poncho; I shudder to think of what swimming out would have been like in that. But he makes it sound like wearing a modern drysuit while paddling is ludicrous. Us ol' guys can be pretty set in our ways about things. Sometimes it takes someone to hammer an idea into our heads before we catch on. Sometimes we never do. I thought Matt was terrific. I wanna be just like him when I grow up. Craig Jungers Royal City, WA *************************************************************************** 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 Oct 10 2007 - 11:30:03 PDT
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