[Paddlewise] Stolen Stuff

Every Spring Break I volunteer with a youth counseling service (OMNI
Youth Services of Illinois) to lead wilderness therapy kayak trips in
the Everglades.  This year it was back-to-back ten day trips because the
two counties served by Omni had different weeks off.

We drive because it is cheaper than flying and because the thirty hour
van ride each way with no music is part of the team building.  We loaded
the trailer three days before the trip and, sure enough, the trailer
with all the contents was stolen.

I lost everything one needs for twenty days of ocean paddling (we stay
on Florida Bay for the whole trip) but I wanted to let you all know
about the identifiable stuff, just in case it pops up somewhere.  The
paddle was a brand new, never in the water carbon AquaBound Manta Ray. 
It is FOUR piece, has reflective tape on both sides of both blades and
is a custom length - it is 215 cm long.  The manufacturer's labels were
peeled off (I have a fetish about logos on products, but that's another
discussion), so the paddle is all black with the reflective tape as the
only decorations.  It has the TLC ferrule system.

I also lost an older, but beloved, lifejacket.  It is a red Extrasport
rescue type with a round patch sewed into the middle of the back.  If
the patch is gone there will be an unfaded spot, if it is there the
patch is from Aasiaat, Greenland and says "Aasiaat" on it with an
illustration of a spider with kayak blades on the ends of its legs.  The
jacket also had a Gerber River Shorty knife attached and a Benchmade
rescue hook in one of the pockets.

The rest of the stuff, marine radios, GPS and sleeping bag and compasses
are all generic without anything to identify them.

A long shot, I know, but just in case . . .


Jim Tibensky
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