Dave wrote; > >> I hope John Winters will chime in here and let us know how he feels >> about being used as he was for "making the case" in this Timmyesque >> sales pitch. > It irritates me but my experience with Tim Ingram has taught me a personal lesson - If you aren't willing to sue the bastards and make it really hurt then the best thing is to ignore it. I used to get combatively indignant but all it did was encourage people. In this particular case I really wouldn't have a leg to stand on since he quoted me accurately (the only place I saw that he used my comments) and really didn't try to distort what I said. I have been misquoted, abused, slandered, libelled, plagiarized, had my writing used to promote specious concepts and products, had my designs stolen, my formulas stolen, ideas stolen had others take credit for my work, and even had pictures of my boats credited to other designers. As far as I know it has never hurt my income. I am too old to worry about that kind of thing and the canoe and kayak business is too small to for it to matter in the great scheme of things. Cheers John Winters *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
I was quoted too in the article, and like John, I was quoted accurately, but I disagree with the conclusion the author drew that longer paddles are okay or even desireable because the Inuit used them. There are good reasons for using longer paddles, including deeper and wider kayaks. But the longer the paddle, the longer the lever you have to work against and the less agile you can be with it. If you compare the scene in Nanook of the North of Nanook using a long paddle to the montage in Palo's Wedding of the heroine's brother using a Greenland paddle, you see two very different styles, with Nanook's looking very awkward and the Greenlander's looking very light and graceful. I think the former might be okay on sheltered waters, but for turbulent seas I would prefer the latter, as with a shorter paddle, and especially using the sliding stroke, it is possible to react much more quickly to changing conditions than a 110-inch paddle would allow. The author also says that umiaks were preferred over kayaks for long journeys because of their wider beams. This is at best a misinterpretation of the evidence. Umiaks in Greenland, at least, were typically crewed by women, old men, and children, and were used on long journeys for their cargo capacity, not just their wide beams. The men always accompanied the umiaks in their kayaks, which made the same journeys as the umiaks. The kayakers used the umiaks as mother ships for rest and nourishment on those expeditions. In Watkins' Last Expedition, F. Spencer Chapman describes a journey of a hundred miles or so with umiaks and kayaks in conditions so bad that Chapman had to roll several times and was so stiff and tired at the end that he had to be helped out of his kayak. The Inuit on the trip were not in appreciably better shape. Chuck Holst *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
G'Day Chuck, That was an interesting post and encourages me to go read "Watkins Last Expedition". Do you have a reference? You mentioned a sliding stroke and I haven't heard that term before and would be glad of any detail you can provide. Is it specific to the Greenland paddle? Can it be used with a Euro? How is it executed and what are the advantages, disadvantages? All the best and thanks, PeterO *************************************************************************** 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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