[Paddlewise] Stephen S. Sinclair Storm Paddler

Duane wrote:

>I was disturbed by a recent paddling magazine article that glorified a guy
> surfsking in 60 knot winds and 15 foot surf, only to have his surfski
> destroyed, and another guy going over a 186 foot waterfall. Is this what we
> should be striving for?





The "recent" article linked to was from August 1995 and it wasn't a paddling
magazine it was the Atlantic Monthly (if that is the article you are refering
to on storm paddling--I'm on the paddlewise digest and things are so out of
order here that I don't even know the title of this thread and haven't seen
anything on a 186 foot waterfall yet). Steve died on 3/22/1996. A heart attack
or something like that, I think. Definitely not from storm kayaking. I thought
he and George Gronseth made a lot of sense in the article. The guy promoting
the sexy Sealution didn't know what he was talking about. The Sealution is one
of the worst rough water kayaks ever sold. The fine sexy bow that loved to
bury itself under water and a big fat rounded stern that lifted with every
wave to help drive the bow under and skidded into a broach even worse than
Easy Rider kayaks. Steve learned storm paddling by doing it and pushing his
limits in a prudent way (and not by taking a merit badge course). He had been
doing storm paddling since at least back in the early 1980's as I recall. He
was probably as safe out there as someone driving on an LA Freeway at 70 mph
in bumper to bumper traffic. He knew the hazards and made allowances for them.
I never heard of him having to be rescued (and that was the kind of thing I'd
likely hear about back when I was writing the safety column for Sea Kayaker.



People are interested in the extremes and what a skilled human can push the
limits back to in most endeavours. Magazines are going to cater to that
interest. I don't see a problem. The general public knows they aren't capable
of planning and executing a 186 foot waterfall jump. They aren't going to rush
out to buy a kayak to try it unless they are suidical. If you are suicidal why
not be creative about it.
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