> I did a study on boating deaths a few years back. Most happen for > boaters with less than 100 hours of experience. After that the > fatality rate drops precipitously. For a while. When experience > starts climbing up into years, the fatality rate starts climbing again. > > Nick Schade As experience climbs into years, something else climbs as well: one's age. As you get older, your body breaks -- or breaks down -- more easily and takes longer to heal. Strength and endurance decrease. Take me for example: I'm 63. I can't portage a canoe by myself anymore because I have only a partial disc in my back. I have to watch what I eat because I have heart disease. Last year I practiced capsizing backwards one evening while trying some Greenland techniques, and the next day I had a painful herniated disc in my neck that lasted about six months. Shortly after I recovered from that, my left foot broke down while I was out for a brisk walk, an injury I am still not quite recovered from. We canceled two trips to the Apostle Islands this year because my wife was suffering from vertigo before the first trip and ganglion cysts in her wrists (from gardening and landscaping) before the second trip. During our third attempt, nine miles into our 11.1-mile crossing to Devils Island, my wife strained a muscle in her arm on what was for us a normally easy paddle in near-ideal conditions, which caused us to cancel the rest of the trip. None of this would have been a factor 10-15 years ago. One of the ironies of life is that for many of us just as we finally acquire the experience we want or need, we lose the ability to take advantage of it. 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/ ***************************************************************************Received on Fri Nov 09 2007 - 11:04:12 PST
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