[Paddlewise] Peasants, the color black, and a Darwin Award honorable mention

I attended the East Coast Canoe and Kayak Festival in Charleston, SC  
USA this past weekend. It was fun. It was especially fun to yell  
peasant at Steve Cramer in the twilight and make him look around in  
fight or flight mode until he spotted me.
I took a nice Greenland class and at the end the instructor and I  
chatted about boat colors.  She had a oxblood red Betsy Bay with a  
laughing polar bear on the fore and aft deck. I had my ultramarine  
blue baidarka with cadmium yellow star and moon covered cutwater and  
transom. We agreed that it was fun to personalize our boats. She  
liked to see Greenland gear in colors other than black. I remarked  
that I had always thought the Greenland crowd liked to wear black to  
help absorb a bit more energy from the sun. She thought it was a  
popular color because it looked cool and made a strong visual impact.
I did take my first swim in about five years during a surf class.   
While side surfing I tripped and flipped on a sandbar. I tried a pair  
of on side rolls and was beaten back down. Switching to off side I  
found I didn't have enough depth to wiggle under the boat. As I came  
up to grab a bit of air an odd thing happened. I suddenly had the  
sensation of being gently but firmly carried out of my boat. It  
wasn't a voluntary wet exit. I had been sucked right out by the surf  
and laid down on the sand. It was all very pleasant until I felt my  
flooded baidarka land on my crotch. I may not actually need my  
gronicles anymore but I still find then useful. Male readers may  
shift uncomfortably in their chairs now. Female readers may laugh at  
our discomfort.  Luckily there were no more than two dozen witnesses.  
I am slowly hunting down and eliminating them one by one.

Jim et al
***************************************************************************
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/
***************************************************************************