Matt's story tells about when things did go right, even if the odds weren't brilliant, mainly due to expertize and knowhow, and not letting panic get the grip of you. Never paddled under similar circumstances, but sailed, where there was absolutely nobody else around, the winds were 50 knots, and gusty, and it was pitch black, due to the heavy cloud cover. The waves were impressive and the boat tiny. But Sven, my young friend, knew the boat, and the coast like a pro, plus was very good at navigating. And utterly cool. I was too much of a tyro to worry, but I still remember the sound of those huge breakers, crashing on the reefs, very near us over the very rocky coastline, but mostly totally invisible - at times we saw some foam thrown high into the air - that was all. No modern navigation aids, no VHF, no motor, nothing! And cellular phones were not invented, yet! His mother was worried, as she knew the coast too, and up was waiting for us, when we eventually reach our destination in the small hours, when the storm had abated, and the sea was almost flat. We probably were 20 at the time - just overgrown brats :-)! Tord PS When I have paddled in fairly big seas at night, the sky has been crystal clear, and I've been close to the Polar Circle, thus the sky is never totally dark. -- Be Yourself _at_ mail.com! Choose From 200+ Email Addresses Get a Free Account at www.mail.com *************************************************************************** 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 Mon Jul 06 2009 - 03:06:07 PDT
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.4.0 : Thu Aug 21 2025 - 16:31:36 PDT