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. *************************************************************************** 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 think Duane was refering to something else with his "recent" article. I just linked to the Steve S. story as it seemed a bit similar and is one I like to reread on occasion! Mark -----Original Message----- 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. out to buy a kayak to try it unless they are suidical. If you are suicidal why not be creative about it. *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
On Tue, Aug 4, 2009 at 2:44 AM, MATT MARINER BROZE <marinerkayaks_at_msn.com>wrote: > > 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. > My wife, Sue, and I just celebrated our 34th year of marriage (although we've been together for 35 years... which confuses me but never her) by visiting the quirky little waterfront of Kirkland, WA and eating at Hector's. We drove over to buy a Pottery Barn sectional sofa which our daughter found on craigslist for $399 (instead of the $3500 normal price) and hauled it out of a $700,000 house in the Issaquah Highlands; the most expensive tract housing project I''ve ever seen (4 different models... don't tell your friends to "look for the house with the porch").... but I digress.... At Hector's we had a fine meal (I had Baja Fish Tacos which tasted just like the fish tacos we bought from the street vendors in La Paz but with a pizazz - and price tag - those muchachos never dreamed of).... but I digress.... We also had a fine view of the 2-lane street that winds along Kirkland's waterfront and I had a chance to watch the people..... and their cars. Someone from another universe dropped into my chair might have thought that we were in the middle of the adventure zone with expedition cars of every stripe going by the window. From ancient restored Land Rovers straight out of an African novel to modern Toyotas with huge racks on the top. I remember thinking to myself that the drivers of those cars are buying a persona. A vision of themselves hunting elephants, exploring remote valleys or maybe kayaking off 186-foot Palouse Falls. They read the magazines, they watch the television shows, and they buy the books but they'll never actually do it. Instead they'll get drunk and rent an inflatable river raft and float down the Deschutes River in central Oregon whooping and hollering at ever bump. And if something bad happens they're not worried a bit. They all have lawyers. Craig Jungers Moses Lake, WA www.nwkayaking.net *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
[In the process of switching email addresses for my PW subscription last night, I seem to be missing the original messages of this thread, so I apologize if I've missed the original theme of this discussion] Hello Craig, You wrote: > We also had a fine view of the 2-lane street that winds along > Kirkland's waterfront and I had a chance to watch the people..... > and their cars. > I remember thinking to myself that the drivers of those cars are > buying a persona. A vision of themselves hunting elephants, > exploring remote valleys or maybe kayaking off 186-foot Palouse > Falls. They read the magazines, they watch the television shows, and > they buy the books but they'll never actually do it. No kidding! At the moment, I'm staying with relatives in Bellevue (unfortunately, due to the medical condition of one relative, it may be a longer stay than I had anticipated), and I've seen more very shiny, big 4WD vehicles in this small area than I've seen just about anywhere (even the big gnarly tires are all shined up with Armor All!). You'd think you were in some sort of urban/suburban jungle, and that the "foreboding wild" must be just around every corner (alas, it's just another condo parking lot...filled with even more shiny Land Rovers ready to take on the wilds of the Bellevue/Seattle streets). And then there's me...making a beeline toward any water I can find in my sand filled, relatively rusty old pickup truck held together with just as un-shiny, well used boat racks--with beautiful scratched and gouged up boat(s) on them, ready to get wet at a moment's notice. People seem to like my boats, but they avert their eyes from my not very glamorous--or shiny--vehicle. Must be painful to look at, but I guess I'm used to it. It's been a while since I've done any urban paddling, but this past week has found me paddling day--and night--in the old haunts of my early days of paddling. Lake Union, Lake Washington, the ship canal and locks, and Puget Sound and the San Juans. There is some nice and interesting paddling here, but after living and paddling on the more remote coast for the past 12 years, I've decided that someone else can have the urban/suburban scene, and soon, I'll be back to the more remote and open waters I've become happily accustomed to. All that said, there are quite a few people here who do take advantage of the urban waters and relative beauty of this area, and I'm glad they have this available to them. I just wish that they wouldn't throw so much trash out the windows of their shiny vehicles when they come out to the coast for weekends and Summer holidays (I'm *constantly* picking up "city folk trash" from my driveway and the beach. And yes, don't think that I don't notice all the Seattle/Olympia/Portland area license plate frames as I watch the trash flying out the windows). -- Melissa (former city dweller--Seattle, L.A., NYC--now happily living a quieter, simpler, less shiny life away from the cities). *************************************************************************** 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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